WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Chris Murphy (D-Conn.), a member of the U.S. Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee, released a statement on Friday after President Trump announced he would end cost sharing payments for health insurance, driving up costs for health care.

“Let’s call this what it is—the president is intentionally hurting every American because he’s having a temper tantrum over Republicans' unwillingness to repeal the Affordable Care Act. Families in Connecticut will see their health care costs skyrocket because Donald Trump is having a bad week,” said Murphy. “This shouldn’t be a surprise to anyone in Congress, and it’s why many of us have been racing to come up with a bipartisan health care bill to prevent this exact sort of blatant sabotage. We need to pass it ASAP. If Republicans reject commonsense bipartisan compromise, they will own every scrap of what’s left of the American health care system when Donald Trump is through with it.”

The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) estimates that President Trump’s actions will increase health insurance costs by 20% in 2018, and up to 25% in 2020. The CBO said that eliminating cost sharing payments will increase the national debt by $194 billion by 2026 because higher premiums will require the government to pay more in subsidies. Insurance companies have confirmed that eliminating cost sharing payments account for a 17% increase in costs for Connecticut families.

Murphy has been vocal in his criticism of the Trump administration for systematically attempting to sabotage the health care system, including issuing an executive order stripping away health care protections,  defunding advertisements ahead of open enrollment,  shutting down Healthcare.gov for periods of time during open enrollment, and rolling back the federal requirement that health insurance plans cover birth control.