On Thursday’s broadcast of CNN’s “Situation Room,” Rep. Ro Khanna (D-CA) argued that the expiration of ACA subsidies that Democrats passed, coupled with the Affordable Care Act Democrats passed doesn’t mean there’s a healthcare crisis of the Democratic Party’s making because “the crisis was that we didn’t have health insurance in this country, that 35-plus million people would go into huge medical debt, that young people were not covered.” And Dems are trying to “strengthen” the ACA but “had to deal with people like Kyrsten Sinema in the Senate” so they couldn’t get a permanent extension of the subsidies.
Co-host Pamela Brown asked, “[T]hese healthcare subsidies, as you mentioned, they are expiring soon, because when Democrats controlled Congress and passed the Inflation Reduction Act, it included that expiration date, not to mention the Democrats were the key architects of the Affordable Care Act. Is this a crisis of your own party’s making?”
Khanna responded, “No, the crisis was that we didn’t have health insurance in this country, that 35-plus million people would go into huge medical debt, that young people were not covered. And then President Obama, in a historic achievement, rivaling the creation of Medicare and Medicaid, finally covered people on the exchanges. And that was a monumental achievement. The Republicans have been trying to repeal that ever since. Why? Just because it’s called Obamacare. They just want to repeal everything Obama did. But what we’re trying to do is strengthen it. And, ultimately, yes, we need single-payer and Medicare for all, but we can’t, in the meantime, have premiums double for this country. And, fortunately, now, people like Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) and Republicans recognize that we should be extending the Affordable Care Act tax credits.”
Brown followed up, “Right. But it was Democrats, the Democrats who were in control, they put this expiration date for the ACA subsidies. And now, Democrats are saying, look, we’re not going to vote for this clean CR until we do something and extend the subsidies. Was this a mistake, back in 2022, not to push to extend them longer so that you’re not in this position right now?”
Khanna answered, “Well, some of us wanted to extend — make them permanent. But President Biden was doing the best he could. We didn’t get a single Republican vote on that. And he had to deal with people like Kyrsten Sinema in the Senate. And so, he did what he could to get that extension. The reality, though, is, there’s been one party in this country, from FDR to Lyndon Johnson, to Barack Obama, to Joe Biden, who has tried to extend health care to every American and lower costs. And there’s been another party, the Republican Party, that has opposed that, at every step of the way, to provide tax breaks for the billionaires. And it’s a clear divide. Now, fortunately, there are cracks in the Republican base, because they understand working-class Americans can’t afford these extraordinary premiums and we need healthcare reform.”
Follow Ian Hanchett on Twitter @IanHanchett
Breitbart News
Read the full article .
