Democrats will reopen government for 1 year Obamacare subsidy extension

Transcript

00:00After so many failed votes, it's clear we need to try something different. What the

00:09Senate is doing isn't working for either party and isn't working for the American

00:13people. Democrats have said we must address the health care crisis, but

00:19Republicans have repeatedly said they won't negotiate to lower the health care

00:24costs until the government reopens. So let's find a path to honor both positions.

00:31Democrats would like to see an end to this shutdown and we want to respect

00:36Leader Thune's desire not to negotiate on ACA until after the government reopens.

00:41Therefore, we'd like to offer a simple proposal that would reopen the government

00:47and extend the ACA premium tax credits simultaneously.

00:53And then have the opportunity to start negotiating longer-term solutions to

00:59health care costs. Let's do all three. I've spoken with my caucus and Democrats are

01:06offering a very simple compromise. Democrats are ready to clear the way to

01:12quickly pass a government funding bill that includes health care affordability.

01:16Leader Thune just needs to add a clean one-year extension of the ACA

01:22tax credits to the CR so that we can immediately address rising health care costs.

01:29That's not a negotiation. It's an extension of current law, something we do all the time

01:35around here, as we all know. But we also offer this. Let's create a bipartisan committee

01:42that will continue negotiations after the government reopens on reforms ahead of next year's enrollment

01:49period to provide long-term certainty that health care costs will be more affordable.

01:56This proposal reopens the government and ensures working families who are shopping right now for

02:02their health care get certainty and financial relief. While open enrollment has begun,

02:08insurers can update their rates after we pass a simple extension of the tax credits.

02:16With this approach, we do not negotiate health care in the shutdown, as Leader Thune has maintained,

02:22he wishes. And the American people get the tax credit extension they want. That is what many of our

02:28Republican colleagues have floated over the last six weeks as a compromise. A one-year tax credit

02:35extension and reforms to the credit beyond that. We will agree with the Republican request not to start

02:43negotiations until after the government reopens. All Republicans have to do is say yes to extend current law

02:52current law for one year. It makes sense. And since what we're proposing is only a simple extension of

03:01current law, the Senate could do this within a few hours. This is a reasonable offer that reopens the

03:09government, deals with health care affordability, and begins a process of negotiating reforms to the ACA tax

03:18tax credits for the future. Now, the ball is in the Republican's court. We need Republicans to just say yes.