WASHINGTON, D.C. – Representative Jamie Raskin (MD-08) released the following statement after the House of Representatives passed a bipartisan bill to avert the GOP’s health care crisis:
“When the calendar turned to 2026 last week, 15 million Americans saw their health care costs skyrocket after President Trump and his cronies in Congress let Affordable Care Act (ACA) tax credits expire. That number includes more than 45,000 people in Maryland’s Eighth Congressional District. Everywhere I go in our community, people tell me they are scared and angry about soaring health insurance costs. Today, House Democrats and several of our colleagues across the aisle passed legislation to restore the tax credits our people rely on to get the health care they need.
“Anyone who is sick or needs preventative care should be able to see a doctor. But too many people are living paycheck-to-paycheck, skipping doctors’ appointments and delaying medical treatment they can no longer afford. Affordable health care is a matter of life or death. It should be a basic right, but Donald Trump and Mike Johnson have ripped it away from millions of people.
“While today is a step towards victory in the fight to protect affordable health care, we never should have reached this crisis point. For months, Democrats demanded a vote to preserve our people’s health care. Republicans chose to shut down the government instead of protecting affordable health care. Donald Trump and GOP leadership launched a full-blown assault on Medicaid, the ACA and Medicare, but Democrats won’t stop fighting for our people. With affordable health care hanging in the balance, enough Republicans joined with us to bring this bill to the floor over Speaker Johnson’s objections. Democracy and decency overcame MAGA cruelty.
“With each day that passes before this bill becomes law, more Americans will postpone medical appointments and ration their prescription drugs—in the richest country in the world. The Senate must pass our bill immediately and President Trump must sign it. Further delays will have deadly consequences for our people.”
###