Bernie and AOC Explain How Trump and GOP Are About to Double Insurance Premiums for Millions of Americans

Amid the ongoing government shutdown fight in Congress, two of America's top progressive lawmakers on Wednesday released a video explaining exactly how President Donald Trump and his Republican allies are going to jack up Americans' health insurance premiums.

In the video, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) explained their decisions to vote against the continuing resolution being put forth by Republicans to reopen the federal government.

"This is one of the dirtiest tricks being pulled on the American people right now," Ocasio-Cortez said of the continuing resolution. "Starting today, October 1, and throughout the rest of the month, Americans across this country are going to start getting notifications that their insurance premiums are up to doubling."

"Say that again," Sanders responded.

"Monthly insurance premiums are going to double for millions of people across the country," Ocasio-Cortez emphasized.

Sanders then interjected to emphasize that this premium hike was coming "at a time when we are already paying, by far, the highest prices in the world for healthcare, at a time when people can't afford it right now."

Ocasio-Cortez then listed some of the negative consequences that could come from not passing legislation to extend the enhanced subsidies for people who buy their insurance through the exchanges created by the 2010 Affordable Care Act (ACA).

"That means people getting bankrupt over chemotherapy, people going to the pharmacy and not being able to get their insulin, and frankly, it means a lot of Americans are going to be in danger," she said. "And Republicans want us to rubber stamp that."

Sanders closed the video by reminding viewers that the US healthcare system is already "broken," given that "we're the only major country on Earth to not guarantee healthcare to all people."

"And these guys," he said, referring to Republicans, "want to make it even worse. We're not going to let that happen."

Many political observers praised the video made by Sanders and Ocasio-Cortez for directly telling Americans, in plain language, the stakes of the current shutdown fight.

"This messaging is approximately 142 times better (highly scientific estimate) than Democrats are getting from leadership," said polling expert Nate Silver.

Roberto Cabral Duran, vice president of strategic communications, geopolitics, and corporate affairs at global consulting firm Teneo, said that Sanders and Ocasio-Cortez delivered "a brilliant piece of political communication" with their video.

"It's clear, it addresses an issue close to all voters, and it helps further alienate people from the GOP's position," he said. "AOC and Bernie did it again."

Jon Favreau, co-host of Pod Save America, also said that Sanders and Ocasio-Cortez were running laps around Democratic leadership in terms of effective messaging.

"The two most prominent progressives in America who support Medicare for All deliver the most compelling message of anyone in the party about ACA subsidies," he said. "They’re also doing it without posting cringe jokes and memes from young staffers. A lesson, perhaps!"

Recent research from KFF found that most people who buy insurance through the ACA are set to see their premiums rise by over 75% unless Congress steps in and renews enhanced subsidies that had been passed into law under the American Rescue Plan in 2021.

The expiring subsidies aren't the only threat to Americans' healthcare, as Republicans over the summer passed a massive budget law that cut spending on Medicaid by nearly $1 trillion over the next decade, which the Congressional Budget Office estimated would result in more than 10 million people, among the nation's poorest, losing their coverage.