U.S. Sen. Tommy Tuberville, R-Ala. in a floor speech Thursday joined other Republican lawmakers rallying against the continuation of the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare.
“The truth is, Obamacare destroyed—absolutely destroyed—our health care system,” Tuberville said.
“It is completely unaffordable. As a result, American families are now paying the enormous price for Barack Obama and woke Democrats’ Obamacare system.”
The debate surrounding Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer’s proposal to extend COVID-era ACA subsidies has been ongoing in Congress for months and was at the heart of the recent 43-day government shutdown, the longest in U.S. history.
Democratic lawmakers had insisted on a straight extension of the tax credits, which expire at the end of the year, as a condition of keeping the government open, according to the Associated Press.
On Thursday, the Senate rejected the extension of health care subsidies, all but guaranteeing higher costs in 2026 for millions on ACA plans.
In ending the shutdown, lawmakers agreed to work towards a solution for the subsidies’ expiration, which will result in premiums doubling and more than 130,000 Alabamians losing access to health care.
“We need to fix it [Obamacare]. It’s broken. It’s a piece of sh––,” Tuberville told Raw Story this week.
In a counterproposal Tuesday, Senate Majority Leader John Thune announced the GOP would offer to replace subsidies with health savings accounts, according to Raw Story.
“Democrats have created a broken system that needs to be repaired, and we’re going to do that,” Tuberville said Thursday.
“I’m glad to see several of my Republican colleagues are working on this daily. I’m hopeful that any Republican plan will focus on the main issue: affordability.”
Tuberville continued, “the only way to lower costs is through more competition and more transparency.”
“We need more plans to give Americans more of a choice when it comes to insurance plans,” he said.
“This is the only way to drive costs down.”
Tuberville, who has recently garnered controversy after making negative comments about various immigrant communities in the U.S., went on to blame part of the nation’s healthcare crisis on undocumented patients.
“Democrats allowed 20-30 million illegals to come into this country under Joe Biden, many of whom came from third-world countries,” he said.
“These illegals are now overrunning our emergency rooms, and you, the American taxpayer, are paying for it. Next time you go to the ER, see how long it takes you to get in and then blame the Democrats. And the next time a hospital in your town closes, as has happened all over my state of Alabama, blame the Democrats.”
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt has issued similar statements in recent months, facing pushback from several organizations.
According to the Kaiser Family Foundation, under longstanding federal policy, undocumented immigrants already are ineligible for federally funded health coverage.
While undocumented immigrants do qualify for emergency room care under the Reagan-era Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act, the foundation notes that less than 1% of total Medicaid spending goes to this emergency care.
In the year 2023, the KFF showed that of the $860 billion total spent on Medicaid, only 0.4% of that, roughly $3.8 billion, went toward Emergency Medicaid for undocumented immigrants.
U.S. Sen. Katie Britt, R-Ala., recently said she is not in favor of a clean extension of ACA subsidies, but Punchbowl News reported that she is trying to get President Donald Trump to agree to a plan on the issue.
“And at the end of the day, Republicans have control of the Senate, the House, and the White House,” Tuberville said Thursday.
“We have no excuse not to do something about this health care disaster. We need to come up with a plan that actually delivers for the American people.”
“This is not a Republican or Democrat problem,” he continued.
“Every American is getting screwed—screwed over every day by this horrible health care system. The Republican Party is working to fix this. Let’s grow a backbone and do what is right for the American people.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.