'At a Much Higher Cost & to the Detriment of the Entire Community'”— Blumenthal Sounds Alarm on Consequences of Republicans' Devastating Health Care Cuts

[WASHINGTON, DC] - U.S. Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) today slammed Republicans for refusing to prevent the looming health care crisis and extend the Affordable Care Act's (ACA) enhanced premium tax credits that have made health care more affordable for tens of millions of Americans, including thousands of Connecticut residents. At a public forum entitled "The Clock is Ticking: Why Congress Must Extend the Enhanced Premium Tax Credits," Blumenthal emphasized the impact Republicans' refusal to preserve and extend enhanced premium tax credits will have on people's ability to access affordable health care.

"You know, I'm always struck in this building by how human problems and impacts can be reduced to abstract statistics. And for anyone who has gone to health clinics as I have done as recently as just a few days ago to renew my sense of reality, there are real human costs in children suffering, pain that is caused people, when you have an illness, there's a physical pain, there's a mental anxiety, and often people fail to get treatment because they think they can save money-and the illness gets worse and more costly, and people wind up in emergency rooms," Blumenthal said.

In response to a question from Blumenthal about the far-reaching consequences of Republicans' refusal to extend ACA subsidies, President and CEO of Meritus Health Inc. Dr. Joshi Maulik, who appeared as a witness at the forum said, "You're absolutely right about the impact on the emergency rooms…Imagine individuals coming there for a sore throat, a cough, because they don't have insurance, and they don't go to their primary care physician as a result. That impacts everybody. They're going to get great care, but at a much higher cost and to the detriment of the entire community. So, I completely agree that the impact is on everyone, and it's real life in terms of that."

Ahead of the deadline to fund the government, Democrats proposed a plan to avoid a government shutdown and the looming Republican health care crisis by reversing Republicans' catastrophic cuts to critical health care programs, including extending the Affordable Care Act's enhanced premium tax credits. Since blocking the plan, the Trump Administration and Congressional Republicans have refused to negotiate in good faith with Democrats to address this crisis and propose an acceptable plan to avoid a shutdown.

Blumenthal is a cosponsor of the Health Care Affordability Act, bicameral legislation to permanently extend the tax credits for Marketplace coverage.

The full transcript of Blumenthal's remarks at today's forum can be found below. A video of Blumenthal's remarks can be found here.

U.S. Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-CT): Thank you, Senator Shaheen. I want to join in thanking you for your leadership, not only in bringing us together today, but on health care affordability, providing more permanent solutions to many of these problems.

You know, I'm always struck in this building by how human problems and impacts can be reduced to abstract statistics. And for anyone who has gone to health clinics as I have done as recently as just a few days ago to renew my sense of reality, there are real human costs in children suffering, pain that is caused people. When you have an illness, there's a physical pain, there's a mental anxiety, and often people fail to get treatment because they think they can save money-and the illness gets worse and more costly, and people wind up in emergency rooms.

So, this failure to extend the subsidies and the premium tax credits is not only cruel, it's stupid-because ultimately the costs are raised. And Ms. Corlette, you have, I think, described again in abstract terms, you know, how premiums are raised for everyone. When our health insurers in Connecticut were approved for double-digit increases, I said to my staff, you know, this is exactly the kind of abuse I fought at as Attorney General-let's call them on the carpet, let's lambaste them. And they said to me, you know, they have a point. Because the healthier invincibles are going to say, "Hey, I don't need this insurance," and the sicker people are going to have to be covered, and that increases the premiums for everybody across the board.

So, it is cruel, but it is also stupid. And medical debt, as everyone knows, is the biggest cause of bankruptcy in the United States of America. When somebody goes into bankruptcy, a lot of people don't get paid money that they are owed. So those folks out there who say, "Well, you know, I got Medicare, I don't have to worry about this. I got a small business, I'm covering my people," they've got a lot of, probably a lot of customers, a lot of suppliers who owe money to them, and they're going to go bankrupt. So ultimately, you know, everybody is going to pay in some way.

Let me ask you, Mr. Joshi, your reaction to some of what I've been describing.

Dr. Maulik Joshi: You're absolutely right about the impact on the emergency rooms. So, just a little bit about us, we have 75,000 emergency room visits a year. That is 200 E.D. visits every single day. That's 8 people every hour. That includes trauma visits, motor vehicle accidents, gun shot wounds. Imagine individuals coming there for a sore throat, a cough, because they don't have insurance, and they don't go to their primary care physician as a result. That impacts everybody. They're going to get great care, but at a much higher cost and to the detriment of the entire community. So I completely agree that the impact is on everyone, and it's real life in terms of that. People should be able to get care when they need it instead of the last resort at the emergency room.

Blumenthal: And new parents-I'm a new grandfather, and my third son and his wife have just had a daughter, and, you know, are grappling with this new experience, lot of unknowns. And if one of them has a high fever, and they didn't have insurance, that they would wind up probably going to the emergency room because they wouldn't want to endanger their baby. And they're not going to care about a week later when the bill of $1500 comes due for a fever that's easily treatable with an antibiotic from a physician if they would just go there rather than the emergency room.

Joshi: That's right. That's absolutely correct. We need to provide access for everyone to the best setting of care-which is to the primary care physician often.

Blumenthal: Well, I'm very grateful to Senator Shaheen and all my colleagues for seeking to put a human face and voice as you are doing here. And I might just tell you, I don't know about this so-called spotlight hearing-you may feel that you are not having the same impact as if you were in a great big Committee room, but the fact is, more people are watching you than would in a regular hearing. And I'm not exaggerating. These are numbers that come to us from the livestream that has gone out. Thousands of people are watching you right now. And so, I'm really grateful to you for being here, and again to Senator Shaheen for putting it together. Thanks so much.

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