Summary
- Extend Affordable Care Act subsidies to keep healthcare affordable.
- Block funding freezes and cuts made by the Trump administration.
- Prevent rise in uninsured rates and protect rural hospitals.
First, cuts to Medicaid and health expenditures imposed in July must be undone by Republicans who control both the White House and the majority in Congress. Second, as mandated by the Constitution, President Donald Trump must carry out spending bills exactly as written. This means that Trump cannot continue to impose restrictions on congressionally directed funding, as he has prevented billions of dollars in congressionally allotted funds from reaching states and agencies over the past eight months.
The shutdown that started Wednesday morning will have far-reaching effects, including the furloughing of hundreds of thousands of federal employees. The Oregon Employment Department expects that 10,000 of the 30,000 federal employees in Oregon may be placed on furlough. Hours may be cut for other non-federal workers whose employment is supported by the federal government.
Currently, no Oregon state employees are being furloughed due to the federal government shutdown, according to Bryanna Duke, a spokesperson for the state’s Department of Administrative Services.
“Agencies are reviewing their specific funding streams and will continue to assess potential future impacts on the workforce if the shutdown persists,”
she said in an email.
However, Democrats in Oregon stated on Wednesday that if they do nothing to guarantee that Medicaid limits are lifted and tax credits are extended to Americans who have insurance under the Affordable Care Act, much more significant repercussions will occur. According to several members of the delegation, the shutdown is the only method to oppose Trump's concentration of presidential power and is also about much larger problems.
Despite protests from Portland Mayor Keith Wilson and Governor Tina Kotek that the city is safe and that Portland Police has small protests in the block around an Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility under control, Trump made the historic announcement over the weekend that he would order Oregon National Guard troops deployed to Portland to guard federal buildings.
More than 111,000 Oregonians who buy health insurance through the state’s Affordable Care Act marketplace will pay significantly more for their plans next year unless the tax credits are extended, and nearly 35,000 will lose all financial help paying for monthly premiums and out-of-pocket costs. Across the country, without the tax credits, Americans who buy health plans through ACA marketplaces will see costs rise an average of 75% next year, according to analysis from KFF, a health policy organization.
“Democrats weren’t asking for a lot, but I think what we are asking for are things that really matter to Americans, right, and certainly to Oregonians,”
said Rep. Andrea Salinas, a Democrat representing Oregon’s 6th District in the Willamette Valley.
Her constituents who buy health insurance on the state’s marketplace could see their premiums increase by as much as $1,500 per month next year if the federal tax credits aren’t extended, she said.
“That’s a lot of money,”
Salinas said.
“That could make the difference of either having health care or not having health care. We’re in a position right now where we’re just trying to make sure that people can get the health care that they need. That’s it. Yeah, it’s pretty plain and simple.”
Other members of the delegation said that the shutdown is about pushing back on President Donald Trump’s growing consolidation of executive power.
“Over the last nine months, Trump has consistently violated the Constitution, separation of powers and checks and balances, and we see it in so many different ways,”
Oregon Sen. Jeff Merkley, a Democrat, said in a news conference Wednesday morning.
“We are in the most perilous moment for our constitution since the Civil War. We have never seen such a combination of attacks on our freedom of expression and our freedom of press, and our freedom of assembly. We’ve never seen such attacks on our universities and our law firms. We’ve never seen such a militarization, or weaponization, of our Department of Justice to go against folks that Trump doesn’t like.”
For Rep. Maxine Dexter, of Oregon’s Portland-based 3rd Congressional District, the shutdown is also about a check on Trump’s power.
“Authoritarianism begins when Congress becomes a rubber stamp. I will not be part of that. I’m fighting for a government funding bill that protects health care, lowers costs and includes ironclad protections to rein in Trump’s power,”
she said in a statement.
“During this shutdown, my office will remain fully operational. I encourage any Oregonian who needs assistance to contact my office.”
How would extending ACA tax credits affect Oregon residents?
If Congress does not extend these tax credits, many Oregonians could end up paying premiums twice what they currently do. A single person making $28,000 a year, for example, would have to pay about 1% of income ($325) per year in premiums with the tax credits in effect but nearly 6% ($1,562) without the tax credits. That's an additional amount of $1,238 per year.
Almost 35,000 people enrolled in the Oregon marketplace, many of whom bring in up to 400% of the federal poverty level, would lose their tax credits and would see their average monthly premiums increase by about $127 to $456 beginning in 2026.
Currently, over 111,000 Oregonians receive premium tax credits that allow them to afford private insurance. If Congress does not approve the tax credit extensions, many people will simply drop their coverage, as they will not be able to afford it.