Earlier Today on House Floor, Pressley Implored Republicans to Save Healthcare, Invoking Story of Boston Family

Video (YouTube)

WASHINGTON – Today, Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley (MA-07) issued the following statement after Democrats forced House passage of legislation to extend life-saving Affordable Care Act (ACA) subsidies and protect healthcare for millions. Earlier today on the House floor, Rep. Pressley implored Republicans to save healthcare for families across the country, including her constituent Deborah, whose family’s monthly payments would double should the ACA tax credits expire.

“Today the House took an important step toward protecting the health, well-being, and financial stability of families in the Massachusetts 7^th and across the country. This is a testament to what is possible when we organize and refuse to be complicit in Trump and Republicans’ attacks on the fundamental right to affordable healthcare,” said Rep. Ayanna Pressley in a statement. “The Senate must follow suit without delay.”

A transcript of Congresswoman Pressley’s remarks from earlier today is available below and the video is available here.

Transcript: Pressley Applauds House Passage of ACA Subsidies Extension

House of Representatives

January 8, 2025

Mr. Speaker, I rise today carrying the voices and the lives of the people of the Massachusetts 7th whose survival depends on the Affordable Care Act tax credits.

The grandmother skipping meals to pay for her prescriptions.

The young mom lying awake at night, wondering how she’ll afford her baby’s asthma inhaler if premiums go up.

Families like Deborah’s in Boston staring down premiums that will double while they care for loved ones, serve their community, and do everything right. 

These are not abstract numbers. 

These are real people, with real lives, and real fears about whether they will be able to see a doctor, fill a prescription, or keep their families healthy. 

In my district alone, 29,000 people will be forced to pay more for healthcare if Congress fails to act, and up to 35,000 could lose their coverage entirely. 

This is a shameful policy choice, and it is a choice—a choice by my colleagues across the aisle, and it is a violent one at that. 

Let me tell you more about Deborah. Her family buys insurance through the Massachusetts Health Connector. 

Right now for a family of five, they pay just over $1,000 a month. 

If these ACA tax credits expire, they’ll pay nearly $2,000 a month—for an even worse plan.

And that doesn’t even include their daughter, who has aged out of the plan, is underpaid at her job, and whose premiums they will have to help cover.

Deborah told me they are fortunate they can afford it—but that affordability does come at a cost.

Between paying for their premiums, their sons’ college tuition, and caring for her disabled sister, Deborah’s husband—a dedicated public offender—now works weekends just to keep up.

As Deborah told me, “Even work you love shouldn’t require you to give up every day of your life just to survive.”

Mr. Speaker, Deborah’s story is no anomaly. 

It is the reality for millions of families across this country. 

And this crisis did not happen by accident. 

No, this is manufactured, man-made.

It was manufactured by an occupant of the Oval Office and a Republican party that is hell-bent on making families poorer, sicker, hungrier, and less safe.

The same party that was content to let these lifesaving tax credits expire—until Democrats had to force them to vote on a clean three year extension.

The shame and the sham of it all. 

Dr. King once profoundly said, and his words still ring true today, “Of all the forms of inequality, injustice in health is the most shocking and inhumane because it often results in physical death.” 

Mr. Speaker, health care isn’t a nice-to-have. 

It is a fundamental human right. It is a matter of life and death. 

I urge my colleagues to do right by the people who sent you here and join us in passing this extension before it is too late. 

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