[Congressional Record Volume 171, Number 195 (Wednesday, November 19, 2025)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1097-E1098]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




  STORIES FROM HOME: THE HUMAN COST OF EXPIRING HEALTHCARE TAX CREDITS

                                 ______
                                 

                               speech of

                            HON. GWEN MOORE

                              of wisconsin

                    in the house of representatives

                       Monday, November 17, 2025

  Ms. MOORE of Wisconsin. Mr. Speaker, I want to thank my colleagues in 
the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) for organizing this Special Order.
  As we get ready for Thanksgiving, families across our Nation are 
coming together. It's a time to celebrate and express gratitude for 
family. It's a time of reflection too.
  But as Americans gather, they are also worried about the family 
budget too. That Thanksgiving meal is going to be more expensive this 
year. For millions of families, individuals, small business owners 
covered by the Affordable Care Act (ACA), so is their health care. 
Which is why I am today with my colleagues. So we can lift up these 
voices as we work to help bring them relief and pass legislation to 
extend those ACA premium tax credits.
  Mr. Speaker, I rise today to stand in the gap for my constituent 
Wesley and his family from Milwaukee. Like millions of Americans, 
Wesley and his family depend on the subsidies provided through the 
Affordable Care Act (ACA). Wesley wrote to me explaining that the 
extension of ACA subsidies has allowed him to afford healthcare for his 
entire family. Without them, he would likely be forced to make the 
difficult decision to insure only his daughter.
  He's one of over 300,000 Wisconsinites covered by the ACA.

  Another is Jeffrey from Milwaukee:

       I am self-employed and completely count on these credits in 
     order to afford my own health insurance, without them I may 
     be uninsured. The anxiety that I, and I'm sure others are 
     feeling the same.

  Or Robert from Milwaukee:

       I was on Medicaid until I made just $200 too much, at which 
     time I was kicked off.

       However, I was able to find a plan on the Marketplace that 
     met my needs. After looking at all the options, I found out I 
     could afford a silver plan because the monthly $900 premium 
     was reimbursed by the government. Without the stipend, I 
     cannot pay this premium and I would have to look at the 
     bottom bronze plans. Very little is covered. My premiums 
     would be lower but my deductibles would be astronomically 
     high.
       I am an in-home senior caregiver working part-time so I can 
     take care of my aging parents.

  Or Dennis from Milwaukee:

       For thousands of Americans like me, the ACA is not a 
     political talking point, it is the wall between a bearable, 
     if difficult, life and complete financial and medical ruin. I 
     relied on the ACA's Marketplace for my health coverage, the 
     only way I could secure a policy that didn't deny me for my 
     age, that capped my out-of-pocket costs, and that allowed me 
     to maintain my own health. Now, with funding cuts and 
     legislative actions targeting the core of the ACA, that 
     coverage is dissolving. The fear is a cold, suffocating 
     blanket. My wife's cancer care is a complex, costly, and 
     continuous reality. With the protections and financial 
     assistance of the ACA gone, her medical bills--for 
     chemotherapy, hospice, hospital stays, and medication--could 
     easily become astronomical, costs that studies show quickly 
     bankrupt families even with good insurance.

  This blatant assault on Americans' healthcare must stop. President 
Trump and Republicans have had over a decade to develop an alternative 
healthcare plan--ever since they began proclaiming their intent to 
dismantle the ACA. Well, guess what, America: They still have 
absolutely nothing. President Trump famously said he has ``concepts of 
a plan.'' Mr. President, and to my Republican colleagues, the American 
people cannot rely on a concept that exists only in your imagination.
  House Democrats stood firm for more than 40 days to support a budget 
that addressed the rising cost of healthcare. Now we stand on the 
precipice of a crisis caused by President

[[Page E1098]]

Trump and Republicans who seem determined to make the livelihoods of 
the American people worse, not better. Again, they have no plan to help 
them.
  Across the country, stripping healthcare access from millions of 
Americans and driving up costs for everyone else. This is especially 
prevalent in minority and rural communities. So I ask my colleagues on 
the other side of the aisle: Why do you want people to suffer?
  The ACA tax credits ensure that families, seniors, young adults, and 
workers have access to quality healthcare. These tax credits provide 
critical financial relief for millions who rely on health insurance 
coverage.
  Affordability remains a top concern for Americans, and it baffles me 
that Republicans would cause such unnecessary harm to low- and middle-
income households.
  I will continue fighting to protect your pocketbooks as we defend 
your right to affordable healthcare. We cannot claim to be the greatest 
country on earth when one side is willing to watch millions suffer or 
be kicked off plans they have relied on for years. Our Nation is 
already facing challenging times, and stripping away healthcare for 
political gimmicks only causes further harm. Therefore, we must 
continue working to extend the ACA tax credits to ensure Americans have 
access to affordable, reliable healthcare.

                          ____________________