Min, Dr. Jerry Abraham join Protect Our Care CA following Republicans’ devastating vote to hike premiums for 1.7 million Californians

Today, Representative Dave Min and Dr. Jerry Abraham joined Protect Our Care CA to hold Republicans accountable for voting to eliminate enhanced premium tax credits, delivering one of the most devastating blows to American health care in years.

After months of chaos and uncertainty, Republicans voted to hike premiums for millions of Americans. Beginning Jan. 1, premiums will double or triple for over 1.7 million Californians. Hardworking families are paying the price, and the consequences will be felt across California and the entire country.

President Trump and his Republican allies in Congress have turned their backs on California families by denying affordable health care to millions.

Despite knowing that ending the tax credits would cause premiums to skyrocket, force Californians off their coverage and cause families to choose between paying for health care and covering basic necessities, Senate Republicans did it anyway. This is Republicans’ latest attack on working families to benefit billionaires and big corporations with tax breaks.

This means less access to coverage, skipping prescriptions and doctor’s visits and facing extreme medical debt is a direct result of Republicans’ choices to eliminate popular, lifesaving health care options. Speakers highlighted the consequences of higher health care premiums and what this means for the future of public health.

“The expiration of the ACA tax credits will have catastrophic impacts in my district and across California” said Min. “Many Californians received those notices from Covered California announcing that they would see anywhere from 50 percent to 200 percent increases in their premiums based on the expiration of the tax credits. This is a problem that Democrats have been sounding the alarm on for months and months and yet we’ve seen no Republicans cross the aisle to try to do something about it.”

“My patients are very nervous about whether they’ll be able to keep their MediCal, will there be changes to their Medicare and for those who are going to the marketplace, what kind of insurance can they actually afford.” said Dr. Jerry Abraham. “And now Republicans are going to double or even more increases in your monthly premiums. They are struggling to keep a roof over their head, food in their belly, send their kids to school, put gas in their car. And now they need to think about ‘can I afford health care? Can I afford health insurance?’”

You can watch the full event here, and learn more about the Trump-GOP health care disaster here.