Senator Murray Tours Harborview in Seattle, Sounds Alarm on Republican Health Care Cuts Raising Costs for Patients, Straining Hospitals Across WA and Nationwide

***PHOTOS AND B-ROLL HERE***

Seattle, WA - Today, U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), a senior member and former chair of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP), toured Harborview Medical Center and discussed the new challenges health care providers are facing over a year after Republicans passed the largest health care cuts in history in their Big Ugly Bill. Senator Murray also held a roundtable discussion and heard from providers and Medicaid patients about the impact of the Republicans' cuts to Medicaid and their failure to extend the Affordable Care Act (ACA) tax credits-causing massive premium hikes for families in Washington state and rising uncompensated care for hospitals and clinics.

The Republican reconciliation bill, which was signed into law in July 2025, cut more than $1 trillion from Medicaid and the ACA over the next 10 years and will make health care more expensive and harder to access. The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO) estimates that Republicans' health care cuts will terminate health insurance for roughly 15 million Americans nationwide.

"Harborview is the only Level I adult and pediatric trauma and burn center across Washington, Wyoming, Alaska, Montana, and Idaho. When the worst happens anywhere in this region-this is where people come. That safety net runs on Medicaid. And whether or not people realize it: Republicans in Congress have cut almost $1 trillion out of it to pay for tax breaks for billionaires," said Senator Murray. "Over 50,000 people in our state have already lost their Medicaid, CHIP, or ACA coverage-and Washington hospitals and clinics stand to lose between $31 and $51 billion in federal Medicaid dollars over the next decade. 37 hospitals, clinics, and nursing homes across Washington state are at risk, cutting services, or have already closed. Uncompensated care is up 5.6 percent, and Harborview absorbs more of that than anyone. I will fight to repeal Trump's Medicaid cuts and make health care the priority it should be in Congress. This is not settled-it is a fight, and I intend to win it."

"As the agency responsible for administering Apple Health (Medicaid), we are doing everything we can to keep eligible Washingtonians covered as we implement the new federal requirements. When people lose coverage, the impact extends beyond families and individuals. It puts pressure on hospitals like Harborview who will continue to provide lifesaving care, even when a patient can't pay for it." said Ryan Moran, director of the Washington State Health Care Authority. "Protecting Apple Health coverage helps protect the health care system we all rely on."

ABOUT TRUMP'S MEDICAID CUTS:

Nationwide, the Republican health care cuts represent a more than $400 billion hit to America's hospitals-with one estimate finding that over 170 rural hospitals will likely be forced to close or scale back their services, which will force more Americans to travel further for maternity care and emergency room visits, and face longer wait times. Washington

ABOUT GOP REFUSAL TO EXTEND ACA TAX CREDITS:

Senator Murray forced the issue of the ACA tax credits at every opportunity before Republicans ultimately refused to take any action, speaking out nonstop about the urgent need to save health care and calling on Republicans to come to the negotiating table to work out a bipartisan deal to extend the ACA tax credits. She took to the Senate floor in November 2025 with her Democratic colleagues to call for a clean one-year extension of the ACA tax credits, and held numerous virtual press conferences with Washingtonians, as well as residents of neighboring states Idaho and Montana, about the exploding health care premiums that Americans would see due to the expiration of the tax credits. As the top Democrat on the Senate Appropriations Committee, Senator Murray led legislation supported by the Democratic caucus that would have addressed the health care crisis during the government shutdown last fall. Senator Murray has also cosponsored multiple pieces of legislation over the past year-the Health Care Affordability Act and the Protecting Health Care and Lowering Costs Act-that would make the ACA tax credits permanent.

As then-chair of the Senate Health Committee, Senator Murray played a critical role in passing the ACA enhanced premium tax credits into law in the American Rescue Plan Act in 2021 and extending them in the Inflation Reduction Act in 2022.

###