August 16, 2017

Duckworth: New Report Confirms Trump’s Sabotage of Healthcare System Would Cause Premiums to Skyrocket & Add Billions to Deficit

 

[WASHINGTON, D.C.] - After a non-partisan analysis from the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) found that healthcare premiums would rise by 20 percent next year and the federal budget deficit would increase by nearly $200 billion if President Trump carries out his threat to sabotage the American healthcare system by ending cost-sharing reduction (CSR) payments that help keep premiums affordable, U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) released the following statement:

"President Trump's threats to sabotage our healthcare system would cause premiums to skyrocket and make health insurance more expensive for working families," said Duckworth. "It's time to set partisanship aside and get to work on solutions that will improve our nation's healthcare system by expanding access to healthcare, making prescription drugs more affordable and lowering healthcare costs for hardworking Americans."

Senators Duckworth and Dick Durbin (D-IL) wrote to the Illinois Department of Insurance last week urging them to provide Illinoisans with more information about how Illinois health insurance premiums are set to rise in 2018 because of President Trump's sabotage of the healthcare marketplace. Over the past few months, Trump has repeatedly threatened to stop making cost-sharing reduction payments, which Illinois insurers such as Cigna and Blue Cross Blue Shield of Illinois have cited as a direct cause for proposed premium increases for 2018. Cost-sharing reduction payments help make premiums more affordable for more than 156,000 Illinoisans.