[Congressional Record Volume 171, Number 181 (Thursday, October 30, 2025)]
[Senate]
[Pages S7845-S7847]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                           Government Funding

  Mrs. BLACKBURN. Mr. President, today marks nearly a full month since 
the Schumer shutdown started. That was really the time when the 
Democrats decided to just go on strike and filibuster a clean CR.
  What has happened is our Federal law enforcement is being forced to 
work without pay; air traffic control towers are understaffed; flights 
are delayed; and it has jeopardized nutritional programs for millions 
of low-income families. This crisis is something that was entirely, 
completely, unavoidable. Yet the Democrats have voted over and over to 
keep the government closed.

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  The reason they are doing this is Democrat leader Chuck Schumer is 
holding the government hostage to ram through hundreds of billions of 
dollars in inflationary spending. In other words, we are not spending 
enough--$38 trillion in debt is not enough. They want to run it up some 
more. He claims that this reckless action is needed to stop 
Republicans, in his words, ``from taking healthcare away'' from 
Americans by allowing healthcare subsidies to expire under the 
Affordable Care Act, or ObamaCare, as it is known--and more 
appropriately known--because there is nothing affordable about this 
thing.
  The problem is that is a falsehood, and it shows you how our friends 
across the aisle are willing to put the American people and their lives 
and SNAP benefits and paychecks in jeopardy in order to achieve a goal.
  One thing that needs to be understood is that the subsidies that are 
there for ObamaCare--they are permanent. They are permanent. They are 
not going anywhere. And households that have incomes that fall between 
100 and 400 percent of the Federal poverty level are going to continue 
to get a credit without any interruption. That is in law. That subsidy 
is there.
  This year, the upper limit for these ObamaCare subsidies was an 
income limit of $128,600 for a family of four. For the lowest income 
individuals, insurance premiums can never exceed 2 percent of the total 
household income. That is something that is Federal law.
  Here is what is set to expire at the end of the year: It is President 
Biden's COVID-era bonus credits that were put in place. This is 
something that the Democrats did in 2021.
  The Biden COVID credits eliminated the 400-percent income cap, 
allowing households that are making over--get this--a half million 
dollars a year, $500,000 a year--they could benefit from this subsidy 
program. So let's say you were buying health insurance on the ObamaCare 
exchange and you were making over a half million dollars a year. You 
too--you too--could get a taxpayer-funded insurance subsidy for 
ObamaCare. Bear in mind, the subsidy does not go to the individual. The 
subsidy goes directly to the insurance company.
  My friends across the aisle choose to rant and rail against insurance 
companies. But do you know what? They are enriching them every day, and 
they want to enrich them even more because now that these emergency 
subsidies are set to expire more than 5 years after the start of the 
pandemic, the Democrats are fighting to make these enhanced Biden COVID 
credit bonuses--they want to make them permanent. This would cost U.S. 
taxpayers 450 billion hard-earned dollars every single year.
  Now, the reason behind this madness is really quite simple. Our 
friends across the aisle want to bring America one step closer to 
government-run healthcare. You know, when we were having all the 
debates about ObamaCare, they kept saying: All right, we will settle 
for ObamaCare because that is a step toward government-run healthcare. 
That is one step toward a single-payer system. That is one step toward 
socialized medicine.
  That is what they want. It would be like Medicaid for all or the VA 
for all. They want control of your doctor, your health insurance, the 
kind of care you could get, where you are going to get it, when you are 
going to get it. Think the VA. Think Medicaid--because that is what 
they want.
  Our debt, as I said, is at $38 trillion. So what they are trying to 
do to fund this program that is rife with waste and fraud is 
unbelievable. Now, the reality is, the lowest cost plan in 2026, the 
average marketplace premium after tax credits, is projected to be $50 a 
month--$20 less than the average monthly premium in 2020. But we can't 
ignore the wasteful spending that exists within ObamaCare.
  According to one estimate, there are 6.4 million people improperly 
reporting their income to benefit from fully funded plans under 
ObamaCare, thanks to the Biden COVID credits. Remember, I said, there 
are some people, because of the Biden COVID credits, who have zero-
dollar premiums. So the estimate is 6.4 million people improperly 
report their income in order to get that zero premium.
  This abuse is costing the taxpayers $27 billion in 2025 alone. That 
is the cost of this. This is the cost of not verifying. This is the 
cost of a program that has run amok with waste and abuse.
  Another peculiar example of wasteful enrollment, close to 12 million 
enrollees in the program filed no claims last year. In other words, 
they didn't use the insurance. That number is triple what the number 
was from 2021 because the Democrats expanded the option of zero-premium 
plans.
  Among those 12 million, many people don't even know that they have 
been enrolled in a taxpayer-funded program. Others may have separate 
health insurance coverage that they have chosen to use. And taxpayers 
sent money directly to the insurers on their behalf. This is because an 
insurance agent, as long as he has name, address, and contact info, can 
enroll you in this and get that commission.
  Think about that. You don't even know you are in the program. You 
have got an insurance agent who has name, address, phone number, and 
contact information; and, all of a sudden, they have enrolled you.
  Extending these Biden-era enhanced credits, as the Democrats are 
demanding, would be doing nothing to address the waste, the fraud, and 
the abuse that is running rampant in this program. And it wouldn't do 
anything to address the structural flaws that are there in ObamaCare 
that have really sent premiums soaring over the last several years.
  You know, it is so interesting to me that ObamaCare promised that it 
was going to lower the cost of premiums; it was going to make 
healthcare affordable and in reach of everybody in the country. But it 
turns out it is too expensive. You can't afford it unless you get a 
subsidy. You can't afford it unless you are getting a zero-dollar 
premium. That is because the insurance tries to be ``one size fits 
all'' and requires people to pay for things they are never going to 
use.
  So what we have seen is the price of the insurance and the 
utilization--the price has gone up, and the utilization has gone down 
because you have got an insurance card and you have got access to the 
queue, but you can't get a doctor and you don't get in to see the 
doctor.
  We know that the costs on these premiums really shot up after the 
Biden COVID credits went into law. And as the premiums go up, taxpayers 
are on the hook to subsidize the insurance companies.
  Remember, the payment goes to them, not to the individual. It goes 
directly to the insurance company. The agent can enroll you, even if 
you don't know you are enrolled, because they have got your name, 
address, phone number, and contact information.
  Republicans have already started to address the root causes of this 
escalation. We have secured measures in the Big Beautiful Bill that 
prevent illegal aliens from receiving subsidies under ObamaCare. We 
prevent them from getting Medicaid services also.
  It also requires individuals who misstate their income to repay the 
excess subsidy that they got. That seems fair. If you lied about it on 
your form and it shows up when it is verified, you are not going to get 
off with a slap on the hand. You have got to repay. You have got to pay 
because if you are cheating, it means somebody else is going to be 
paying that difference.
  So requiring applicants to verify their income, their family size, 
their immigration status, and their residence before enrolling ensures 
that you are not going to have people abusing the system and ripping 
off hard-working taxpayers. That is common sense.
  Our Democratic colleagues should be working with us to implement more 
integrity measures to ensure that these taxpayer-funded benefits only 
go to the people who deserve them.
  Republicans want to tackle the rising premium costs because this is 
too expensive to afford. They want to drive down the cost of 
prescription drugs by holding pharmacy benefit managers, or PBMs, 
accountable. We want to streamline the process for prompt payment of 
claims, put a shot clock on these insurance companies, make certain 
they are paying your local doctor, and maintain the fiscal solvency of 
the Medicare Program.
  We want to see healthcare freedom. People want to make certain that 
we have got choice and options; that you are not mandated into a 
program you

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don't want, that covers things you don't need.
  How about health savings accounts? How about association health 
plans? How about across-State-line purchase of health insurance? So 
when you get a health insurance product you like, you can keep it. When 
you get a doctor you like, you can keep him. When you get a payment 
price you like, you can keep that and make it.
  We would love to be addressing these issues, but our Democratic 
colleagues have decided they want to keep going with a government 
shutdown and hold the government hostage so they can appease their 
leftwing base.
  It is time for them to end the theatrics and come to the table and 
get back to work.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Iowa.
  (The remarks of Ms. Ernst pertaining to the introduction of S. 3091 
are printed in today's Record under ``Statements on Introduced Bills 
and Joint Resolutions.'')
  Ms. ERNST. I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Iowa.
  Ms. ERNST. I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The senior assistant legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. THUNE. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for 
the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Budd). Without objection, it is so 
ordered.