Rep. Crawford: The Affordable Care Act Has Been Anything But Affordable

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, Congressman Rick Crawford (AR-01) issued the following statement on his vote against extending the COVID-era Affordable Care Act (ACA) subsidies.

“The Affordable Care Act was jammed down the throats of Americans by President Obama and Congressional Democrats and has proven to be anything but affordable. Since its passage, health insurance premiums have INCREASED by 80%. I have and will always support affordable health care options for American families, but this can be done without ballooning the national debt and allowing opportunities for rampant fraud. The ACA’s enhanced tax credits were always intended to be temporary during COVID, as evidenced by the fact that Democrats chose to sunset the subsidies after four years. Here we are years later, and Democrats expect Republicans to help them cover up how unaffordable the ACA has become for the American people.

“Republicans have put forward promising solutions to clean up the disastrous mess Democrats have made of our healthcare system. For one example, Republicans took bold action last year when we passed the Working Families Tax Cut Act and established the Rural Health Transformation Program to increase access, modernize care, and strengthen the health care workforce in our rural communities. It was announced late last year that CMS will award Arkansas $208,779,396 in health care grants as part of this program. This will be pivotal for Arkansas’ rural communities. I am grateful for the leadership of President Trump and CMS Administrator Dr. Oz to make health care more affordable and accessible for American families in our nation’s heartland.”

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