Press Releases

Hours after the federal government shut down, Congresswoman Chellie Pingree (D-Maine) condemned Republicans’ refusal to work with Democrats to keep the government open—and stop millions of Americans from falling off a health care cliff. During a press conference at the Portland International Jetport on Wednesday after arriving back home from Washington, Pingree emphasized that the shutdown falls squarely on Republicans. 

 

“No one takes a shutdown lightly. The Republicans control the House, the Senate, and the White House. When you’re in the majority, you have the ability to keep the government open or shut it down. This is their shutdown,” Pingree said. “Many of our Republican colleagues understand that these [Affordable Care Act] tax credits are just as important to their constituents as they are to ours; that the cuts to Medicaid will be just as devastating to their rural hospitals as ours. So, I'm not sure why they won't come to the table and negotiate.”

“[Democrats’] goal is to protect everyone's health care during this fight, to restore the cuts related to health care, and to make sure that Republicans don't break their promises going into the future,” she said. “I hear from my constituents every day that the cost of living is too high—whether it is housing, child care, or the cost of food—and many of them are looking at these increased premiums and are devastated to try to imagine how they're going to get that paid for and how they're going to keep health care for their family.”

 

On Thursday, Pingree joined Protect Our Care Maine and small business owner Briana Bononcini to highlight the devastating impact of the Republican health care crisis. 

 

At a press conference at Bononcini’s Portland restaurant, Hunt & Alpine Club, Pingree and advocates stressed how inaction from President Trump and Congressional Republicans threatens to strip premium tax credits from thousands of Mainers—and drive health insurance premiums up by as much as 114%.

 

“The enhanced premium tax credits help more than 50,000 Mainers to afford their health insurance. But many of those who are self-employed—and we have a lot of them: fishermen, farmers, people who work in the woods, people who have their own businesses—depend on this for affordable health care,” Pingree said. “Without these extended tax credits, they will be without coverage, largely because they'll be priced out of the marketplace and 9,500 Mainers are looking at losing their subsidies altogether.”

 

Enhanced premium tax credits have helped make health insurance affordable for 53,808 Mainers enrolled in coverage through the Affordable Care Act (ACA). Eliminating them would drive costs out of reach for too many Mainers, forcing them to choose between health care and other basic necessities. Republicans have already broken their promise to bring down costs for everyday Americans by slashing funding for Medicaid in their Big Ugly Bill, and they will continue to drive up costs if they take these tax credits away. 

 

“We took the chance on building the restaurant because we knew we would have health care. This restaurant's also been able to let us employ over a dozen people through the years and create jobs here in Maine. And being part of the Maine small business economy and community, striking out on your own to start a business, is scary enough. The uncertainty you'll be able to make a living is almost paralyzing. But then you add the uncertainty of whether or not you have health care—if something catastrophic happens—is a whole other level of concern,” Bononcini said. “[...] I work with and know many Mainers who would be unable to go to school, open new businesses, or care for family without the coverage through the Affordable Care Act. The largest barrier for entrepreneurs is health coverage and good and affordable health coverage for them and their families. Far too many Maine families are worried about raising rates and deductibles, and now not even sure if they'll be able to afford health coverage.”

 

If Congress does not extend the enhanced premium tax credits immediately, hundreds of thousands of people will lose their health care and millions more will see their costs skyrocket. 

 

Republicans acted quickly to pass tax cuts for their billionaire buddies by July 4, despite them also expiring December 31 of this year. Americans are already getting notices about skyrocketing costs and deciding now if they can afford to keep their health coverage. 

 

“Everyone will be impacted by this,” Pingree continued. “When you couple it with [the $1 trillion in cuts to Medicaid] in the Big Ugly Bill, which will affect MaineCare, it’s going to affect our hospitals and a tremendous number of Mainers.”

 

###