{"id":131290,"date":"2025-09-04T03:36:13","date_gmt":"2025-09-04T03:36:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/131290\/"},"modified":"2025-09-04T03:36:13","modified_gmt":"2025-09-04T03:36:13","slug":"reed-whitehouse-rally-ri-health-leaders-on-plan-to-lower-costs-improve-access-to-care-reverse-trump-republican-health-care-cuts","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/131290\/","title":{"rendered":"Reed & Whitehouse Rally RI Health Leaders on Plan to Lower Costs, Improve Access to Care, & Reverse Trump-Republican Health Care Cuts"},"content":{"rendered":"

PROVIDENCE, RI \u2013\u00a0U.S. Senators Jack Reed and Sheldon Whitehouse today convened a group of health care professionals, service providers, and community advocates at Providence Community Health Centers\u2019 (PCHC) Prairie Avenue Health Center to discuss how they are working with colleagues in the Senate to help lower costs for accessing care and strengthen access to health care for all Americans.<\/p>\n

Earlier this summer, Republicans rammed President Trump\u2019s so-called \u201cBig Beautiful Bill\u201d through Congress. The tax and budget law is estimated to kick 15 million people off their health insurance nationwide over the next decade.\u00a0 Rhode Island is slated to lose approximately $4 billion in federal Medicaid funding over that timeframe, according to projections from experts at the\u00a0health policy organization, KFF<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The Trump-Republican attack on health insurance includes a failure to extend the Affordable Care Act\u2019s (ACA) enhanced tax credits which expire at the end of this year. According to the\u00a0Providence Journal<\/a>: \u201cAn additional 40,000 [Rhode Islanders] will see their insurance premiums balloon by an average of 85% when tax credits that expanded Obamacare coverage expire at the end of 2025, leading to more Rhode Islanders uninsured or underinsured.\u201d<\/p>\n

In an effort to reverse the Republican health care cuts, permanently extend the ACA\u2019s enhanced tax credits, and ensure reliable access to quality care for Rhode Islanders, Senators Reed and Whitehouse joined the entire Senate Democratic caucus in introducing the\u00a0Protecting Health Care and Lowering Costs Act<\/a>\u00a0(S.2556) on the 60th\u00a0anniversary of the Medicare and Medicaid programs.<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople without health insurance still get sick and need to see the doctor.\u00a0 President Trump\u2019s \u2018Big Beautiful Bill\u2019 is really just a big betrayal of Americans who rely on Medicaid or the ACA\u2019s enhanced tax credits to afford access to health care.\u00a0 With millions across the nation slated to lose their coverage, unsustainable health care costs will continue to rise for everyone.\u00a0 We must take immediate action on the Protecting Health Care and Lowering Costs Act to lower costs, reverse President Trump and Republicans\u2019 health care cuts, and ensure that every American can access the care they need when they need it,\u201d\u00a0said\u00a0Senator Reed. \u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cRepublicans\u2019 Big, Beautiful-for-Billionaires bill made cruel and dangerous cuts to health care to give tax breaks to billionaires,\u201d\u00a0said Whitehouse.\u00a0\u00a0\u201cThey are taking health care away from Rhode Islanders and harming our already-fragile health care system. \u00a0I\u2019ll do everything in my power to reverse these cuts.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Protect Our Healthcare Coalition expresses our deep appreciation for the work that Senators Reed and Whitehouse are doing, along with the rest of the Rhode Island Delegation, to oppose federal cuts to Medicaid and individual marketplace coverage,\u201d\u00a0said Shamus Durac, co-chair of the Protect Our Healthcare Coalition\u00a0and Senior Attorney and Health Policy Analyst with RIPIN. \u201cOur Coalition members work directly with the many Rhode Islanders who will lose Medicaid, or who will see their HealthSource RI premiums jump, because of the new federal law. More than 80,000 Rhode Islanders newly qualified for health insurance due to the Affordable Care Act and subsequent enhancements, but new restrictions on coverage for immigrants, byzantine Medicaid work requirements, more difficult applications and recertifications, and significant cuts to federal funding for the individual marketplace threaten to undo that progress. And while some of the cuts won\u2019t take effect until after the 2026 election, many Rhode Islanders will lose coverage sooner than that. Medicaid, Medicare, and individual market eligibility is being eliminated for many categories of lawful immigrants, and the expiration of Enhanced Premium Tax Credits means that HealthSource RI enrollees will see their coverage jump by 85% on average, with some enrollees seeing their out-of-pocket monthly premiums double or even triple. We call on Washington to reverse these cuts and support the Senators\u2019 efforts to protect Rhode Islanders\u2019 health insurance.\u201d<\/p>\n

Senators Reed and Whitehouse were joined by members of Rhode Island\u2019s Protect Our Healthcare Coalition, Providence Community Health Centers (PCHC), and advocates with lived experience to raise awareness about the disastrous impacts that the Republican attack on health insurance will have on hospitals, health centers, seniors, nursing homes, and patients across the country. \u00a0The group pushed for swift action to lower health care costs and increase access to care for all Americans.<\/p>\n

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