00:00Hi, Nikki here. Right now, Republicans in Congress are trying to jam through a big, ugly tax package that could kick 16 million Americans off their health insurance.
00:10That's already devastating, but it's going to have far-reaching ripple effects, too.
00:15What happens if Republicans go through with these cuts?
00:1916 million people could lose access to a primary care doctor, cancer screenings, or dialysis treatment.
00:25Without insurance, your only option is to go to the emergency room, where they'll treat you even if you can't pay.
00:33Hospitals call that uncompensated care.
00:37That visit will likely leave you with thousands of dollars of personal medical debt,
00:41and the hospital will have to float the cost while you figure out how to pay them back.
00:46Multiply that by 16 million, that's billions of dollars of uncompensated care that hospitals across the country will take on.
00:56Hospitals, especially rural ones, are already stretched thin.
01:00This added burden could push them over the edge, meaning the already limited choices in rural communities like those in Illinois 13 could become even more limited.
01:11If the Republican tax package becomes law, hospitals will close.
01:17This is why I just introduced a bill to protect rural hospitals,
01:21and I'm going to keep calling out these cuts and demanding better for our communities.
