[Congressional Record Volume 171, Number 202 (Wednesday, December 3, 2025)]
[House]
[Pages H5001-H5002]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                           HEALTHCARE CRISIS

  (Mr. Costa of California was recognized to address the House for 5 
minutes.)
  Mr. COSTA. Mr. Speaker, with only 10 voting days left in this year's 
calendar, Congress must act if we are to avert a full-blown healthcare 
crisis. I rise today to bring attention to the affordability and 
healthcare crisis that is pending upon us.
  I think this is what Americans want us to do as opposed to bailing 
out Argentina or figuring out how to finance a $300 million ballroom 
that will dwarf the size of the White House.
  What Americans are concerned about is premiums that are climbing.
  What Americans are concerned about is the increase in their grocery 
bills.
  What the Americans I represent in the San Joaquin Valley are 
concerned about is bearing more and more of this burden and not seeing 
any potential light at the end of the tunnel.
  Families are forced to make impossible choices between putting food 
on the table or whether or not they should keep their healthcare 
coverage.
  In July, President Trump's one big--I never thought it was 
beautiful--bill became law. It slashed over $1 trillion from Medicaid, 
from children's healthcare coverage, from Medicare, and the Affordable 
Care Act, adding $4.2 trillion to our national debt.
  Programs that protect children, seniors, and working families are 
being gutted. In my district alone, over 65,000 people risk losing 
their Medicaid coverage, threatening access to essential healthcare for 
vulnerable populations.
  Now, despite the passage of the fiscal year 2026 continuing 
resolution, my colleagues on the other side of the aisle, once again, 
have failed us, I think.
  Republicans are threatening the Affordable Care Act's enhanced 
premium tax credits that will expire at the end of this year in just 
four weeks. Open enrollment is now, and Americans are seeing the cost 
that they are paying for this effort, which has failed so far. But 
there is still time.
  There is still time when families can avert the stark choice of 
having to pay more for their healthcare or make sacrifices elsewhere in 
their lives. There is still time to continue these tax credits, so that 
we can avoid the dramatically higher healthcare costs that our 
constituents are paying in copayments and deductibles, which is 
impacting up to

[[Page H5002]]

22,000 people in my congressional district alone.
  To illustrate what this means, a couple who are 60 years old in 
Fresno earning $82,000 a year will pay $18,000 more per year for 
coverage. A family of four in Tulare County earning $64,000 a year will 
pay $2,500 more.
  This is not fiscal responsibility. This is a Republican healthcare 
tax hike on working families, imposed in the richest country in the 
world. I think it is unacceptable. These are not just numbers on a 
page. These are real people.
  It is a mother in Fresno who has to choose between filling her 
prescription and paying rent. It is a father in Tulare County who may 
have to decide whether his children can see a doctor when they are 
sick. It is seniors who have delayed care, skipped medications, or 
avoided preventive screenings because of these rising costs. These are 
the consequences of inaction. But there is still time.
  Mr. Speaker, the Democrats have a plan.
  Our plan is to keep the premiums affordable.
  Our plan prevents Republican healthcare tax hikes.
  Our plan requires President Trump to carry out a bipartisan budget. 
That is what we are supposed to do, a bipartisan budget.

  We know healthcare cannot wait, and our families cannot wait. Our 
Nation needs certainty, affordability, and leadership more than ever.
  Let us come together at the table in a bipartisan fashion. That is 
what my constituents expect of us.
  Let us extend the Affordable Care Act tax premiums.
  Let us keep healthcare affordable for Americans.
  Let us show the American people that Congress can act responsibly, 
that we can protect our families, that we can deliver on the promises 
to ensure that no one has to choose between healthcare and their basic 
needs of the safety net that is a contract that we have with the 
American people.
  Mr. Speaker, our constituents are counting on us. Let us not fail 
them. Americans deserve affordable healthcare, and we have until the 
end of this month to make that happen.

                          ____________________