Duckworth's SOTU Guest: 'Our Insurance Costs Have Quadrupled in the Past Two Months…There Are Thousands Suffering in Silence'

Budzinski also reacts to State of Union Address.

Submitted by governor and legislators

Feb 25, 2026 11:24 AM Feb 25, 2026 1:37 PM

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WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth’s (D-IL) State of the Union guest, Jeremy Schumacher of Carbondale, Illinois, delivered powerful testimony about how the Trump Administration’s devastating health care cuts—combined with the rising costs of groceries and other everyday necessities—have made it nearly impossible for his family to make ends meet. Mr. Schumacher, the primary source of income for his household, saw his health insurance deductible increase by $11,000 after Trump and Republicans allowed ACA enhanced premium tax credits to expire—forcing him into an impossible situation where he has decided to forgo his own health care to afford the care his disabled wife needs. Video of Mr. Schumacher’s testimony is available on the Senator’s YouTube and photos of him and Duckworth together are available on the Senator’s website.

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Schumacher Key Quotes:

“I’m here because of the pain of checking the mail. We never know if the next bill coming is the one that is going to put us in bankruptcy or make us lose our house…Our insurance costs quadrupled in the past two months. We went from a $5,000 deductible to a $16,400 deductible. So on a single income, I have chosen to not go to the doctor because once we hit my wife’s deductible—which last year we would have hit already at $1,500 in two months that has been spent—now we have an additional $3,000 to go to hit her deductible, before we even start mine.”

“I just went to the doctor for the first time this week and found out I have diabetes. The amount of money…the testing, the X-rays that I got, I will never be able to pay for them. I already cannot pay for them…It’s not a Republican or Democratic question—it’s an everyday American question. There are thousands of us suffering in silence.”

“If it was just health care, it’d be one thing. But everything has gone up. Our electricity bill has gone up 30 percent our food bill has gone up over 50 percent. We just cannot afford to live anymore.”

Budzinski on Trump's SOTU Address: "Dangerously Disconnected"

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Congresswoman Nikki Budzinski released the following statement on President Trump's address to the nation:

Tonight, we heard the ramblings of a President dangerously disconnected from the real issues keeping families up at night – issues his own policies have made worse.

The harsh truth is that people are struggling. People like Laura, who joined as my guest tonight. Because of his refusal to extend critical Affordable Care Act tax credits, Laura’s premiums have increased by $500 a month – a crushing blow to a family simply trying to stay insured.

Instead of acknowledging the worsening healthcare crisis he and House Republicans have created, he promoted his “TrumpRx” platform, which fails to even display the lowest-cost options for medication.

Instead of laying out a real strategy to lower utility bills or bring down grocery prices, he leaned on misleading statistics that don’t reflect the lived experiences of working families.

Instead of confronting the urgent need for accountability with ICE, he failed to outline a single common-sense reform or honor the lives of Americans killed by his federal agents.

Instead of admitting the damage his reckless tariffs have caused – driving costs up by $1,700 for Illinois families – he doubled down and scoffed at the justices before him.

Tonight made one thing unmistakably clear: under President Donald Trump, our union is not stronger. Democrats are ready to lead – to restore stability, lower costs, protect working families, and return this country to a government that puts people first. And come November, that’s exactly what we will do.

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