By WMBD TV
WASHINGTON D.C. (WMBD) — A day after the government shutdown ended, U.S. Rep. Eric Sorensen said Republicans have no plans to reduce healthcare costs.
“What is incredible to me is you have Republicans that will say, oh, we need to fix the health care system, yet where’s the plan?” said the Moline Democrat. “There is no plan at all. 15 years now [and] the Republican Party hasn’t come up with a solution.”
The longest government shutdown in U.S. history has come in part because of a fight over healthcare. Democrats wanted to continue a tax credit program that they said reduced the price of health insurance premiums.
Senate Democrats negotiated with Republicans for more than 40 days to extend this program. Throughout the shutdown, outright continuing the program was a no deal from Republicans.
Instead, Democrats were given a promise of a future vote to extend the tax credit program.
Sorensen said there were minimal bipartisan conversations.
“The Republican Party, which holds the majority, they didn’t want to talk,” he said. “So, it was a stalemate from the beginning. There was never any work across the aisle.”
He voted no to re-open the government, “The vote didn’t go far enough to help the people who are struggling today,” he said.
Health insurance premiums will increase for 17,000 families in Sorensen’s district, according to the lawmaker.
U.S. Rep. Darin LaHood said he is a no vote for the Affordable Care Act tax credit program.
“Clearly, we have to do something about the high cost of health care, but carte blanche, renewing the ACA tax credit is not the way to do it,” said the Peoria Republican.
“These have been basically put in place since COVID, and they have never been scrutinized,” he said. “Like anything in government, we should look at how do we make them more efficient, more effective, more accountable.”
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