DEAR EDITOR:

Let’s think about the lack of understanding displayed by House Speaker Mike Johnson’s statements during a TV interview last week and its impact on millions of Americans and their ability to make an informed health care decision.

He stated that the shutdown impasse was not a health care fight. He said that the Democrats had created a red herring by making this a shutdown issue in September. His logic apparently being that Congress had every intention of discussing the issue in October and November since the health care subsidies don’t expire until the end of the year.

And yet, Johnson sent the House home over four weeks ago pending passing of the funding bill by the Senate. By my count, over three-quarters of October is gone and Johnson says that he will not call the House back into full session until the ongoing government shutdown is resolved. It appears that Johnson has made the decision that nothing is happening on the healthcare subsidy issue.

Sounds like another smokescreen to place blame on the Democrats. Here’s the point. The Affordable Care Act (ACA or “ObamaCare”) sign up period runs from Nov. 1-Jan. 15 for the coming year. To have coverage start on Jan. 1, you must enroll by Dec. 15. For those who enroll between Dec. 16 and Jan. 15, coverage will begin on Feb. 1..

How many Americans are being impacted by not knowing the cost of health care via ACA? In 2025, over 24 million people enrolled in coverage through ACA. Johnson apparently could care less about those millions of Americans who have to start making hard decisions in less than 10 days by the time this is published regarding what they and their families can afford for coverage in 2026. Johnson just doesn’t seem to feel any need to make a decision on extending the Premium Tax Credit after Dec. 31, 2025. He seems to think it’s OK to wait until the end of the year to let those 24+ million Americans know if they can get affordable health care.

It’s ridiculous that the GOP and the President aren’t acting with urgency to get this resolved. They just don’t understand (or care) about the importance of getting it addressed now. Without knowing what’s going to happen to the PTC, starting on Nov. 1, millions of Americans will be making decisions blind on what coverage they can afford.

Good for you, Congressional Democrats. Hold the line. Force the GOP to extend the PTC for the coming year and beyond. What’s the other option? To come up with a better plan immediately? They’ve had years and years, and we are still waiting.

MARY LANDRIES

Cortland