[Congressional Record Volume 172, Number 85 (Tuesday, May 19, 2026)]
[House]
[Pages H3554-H3555]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                       RISING COSTS OF HEALTHCARE

  (Mr. Johnson of Georgia was recognized to address the House for 5 
minutes.)
  Mr. JOHNSON of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to sound the alarm 
on skyrocketing healthcare costs in this country. Americans all across 
the country, including Georgia's Fourth Congressional District, are 
having a hard time and making very difficult decisions. They have to 
decide whether it is more important to pay for their groceries--and 
don't get me started on the cost of gas to go to work--or to provide 
their family with healthcare.
  It is estimated that healthcare will cost more than $26 trillion 
through the year 2036, making healthcare the largest category of 
Federal spending. This Republican rubber-stamped Congress has failed to 
advance extensions to the enhanced premium tax credits, causing more 
families to have to make these difficult decisions--decisions we should 
not have to make in a country like this, but don't take my word for it.
  For example, my constituent, Julia has a 34-year-old son that has a 
brain condition that makes it difficult for him to work. He needs brain 
specialists and prescriptions to prevent him from having seizures, 
debilitating headaches, and memory loss, but without healthcare 
subsidies, his health insurance costs rose 400 percent this year.

[[Page H3555]]

  Because of the high cost of healthcare for her son, Julia, who is 
responsible for paying all of the bills, has no savings. Extending the 
subsidies would have helped her put food on the table and make ends 
meet.
  Another example is my constituent, Vivian from Tucker, who lives with 
chronic psoriatic arthritis and suffers from vision problems. Her 
medication costs $4,000 a month.

                              {time}  1215

  Without extensions of the subsidies, she and her husband's healthcare 
premiums skyrocketed from $50 to $1,300 a month, a 2,400 percent 
increase. That is a cost they simply cannot afford. Vivian said 
ObamaCare saved their lives.
  Lastly, I would like to recognize a student at Georgia State 
University named Melani, whose parents' monthly premiums went from $250 
to $850 a month, a 250 percent increase. As a student, she receives 
health insurance through her school, but her family's premiums tripled, 
making their coverage financially impossible.
  Her parents, who are in their late fifties and early sixties, had to 
cancel their insurance because the costs are simply too high. The 
current tax credits are no longer sufficient to meaningfully offset 
rising insurance prices she told me.
  Without adequate support, Melani's parents are forced to go uninsured 
and face the tax penalty, despite desperately wanting to keep their 
coverage.
  Mr. Speaker, with Trump's war of choice in the Middle East and rising 
prices at home, Republicans have turned their backs on the very people 
who sent them to the Halls of Congress.
  I believe that healthcare is a fundamental human right. When a loved 
one is in the hospital, the only question that should be asked is: 
``How do we get them better?'' not, ``How much is it going to cost?''
  I will continue to speak up and speak out about these issues and 
fight for the people of Georgia's Fourth Congressional District.

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