[Congressional Record Volume 171, Number 152 (Wednesday, September 17, 2025)]
[Senate]
[Page S6704]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                               HEALTHCARE

  Ms. KLOBUCHAR. Mr. President, I join my colleague from Michigan as 
well as Senators Welch and Shaheen and the others that come before this 
body today to talk about what is really happening out there.
  Well, what is really happening out there is that we are in a 
healthcare crisis, and that is because the big beautiful betrayal of a 
bill will kick 15 million Americans off their healthcare, force 
hospitals, health clinics, and nursing homes to close. This is already 
happening with the premium notices, with what they are already seeing. 
It is raising costs for everyday Americans.
  And now, if Congress doesn't act to extend the Affordable Care Act's 
health tax credits before they expire, more than 20 million Americans 
will see their premiums soar, putting their coverage at risk.
  I go to all 87 counties in my State every single year, and I visit 
rural hospitals. I know what is happening out there. I know what is 
happening to people who are in small businesses, who rely on the 
Affordable Care Act, who are already seeing increased grocery costs, 
already seeing increased electricity costs, and are already seeing 
dried-up markets because of these tariffs. This is all hitting them at 
once.
  At the end of the day, everything from regular checkups and 
lifesaving prescriptions to hospital visits and long-term care is under 
threat--not for the wealthiest. They are going to be able to handle it. 
Maybe not even for people in some of the big cities, but for people out 
there in rural right now, they are barely holding on as it is.
  And this is on top of the funding cuts to public health and medical 
research that extinguish hope for lifesaving cures and jeopardize 
America's global leadership and medical innovation. Those people are 
holding on too.
  Just last weekend, I went with the Parkinson's Association on their 
charity walk. Those people are holding on for hope in their 
wheelchairs. They are holding on for hope. They are daughters and sons; 
they are brothers and sisters. We are so close in so many areas because 
of the mapping of the human genome, because of AI--as this is coming 
from the home of the Mayo Clinic, MN--that we do not want to go 
backward when it comes to investment in research.
  That is why my Democratic colleagues and I are fighting to restore 
healthcare in this upcoming budget bill. Right now, healthcare access 
for more than 20 million Americans who benefited from healthcare tax 
credits are at risk, as I just noted. As a result, a record number of 
Americans, 24 million people, have been enrolled in this Affordable 
Care Act, but all of them are going to see this increase if something 
isn't done.
  This will be a massive hit to working families. It will be especially 
harmful to middle-class families, small business owners, and 
entrepreneurs, seniors, and people living in rural communities. It will 
force States to reduce coverage and shift resources away from other 
priorities like education and public safety. In Minnesota, at least 
nine rural hospitals are at immediate risk of having to shut their 
doors and stop providing care.
  Medicare, Medicaid, and enhanced healthcare tax credits are 
overwhelmingly supported by Americans. Why? Because this is about their 
families. This is about the fact that they know that healthcare--over 
the years, they have seen the prices and what has happened with 
pharmaceuticals, and they expect us to do better than what is happening 
now. They expect us to do better than putting forward what is in this 
bill that just happened that hurts their rural hospitals or throws 
people off of their coverage or stops lifesaving research on these 
cures that has always been so bipartisan or the rhetoric around 
vaccines, which so many of them know their kids need. I just found out 
this year I had no immunity to measles. I got the shot, but it was at 
the wrong time. So I got that vaccine. Right now, so many people don't 
even know. They turn on the TV, and they hear the HHS Secretary 
question these vaccines against the belief of a number of people on the 
other side of the aisle, the Senators, Republican Senators, including 
those who are doctors. This is just creating massive chaos.
  Costs are up. Chaos is up. Confusion is up. We must do better. More 
insured Americans is good for patients, good for families, and good for 
our country. More research paves the way for cutting-edge treatment and 
the cures of tomorrow.
  I yield the floor.

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