Xavier Carrigan is a Democratic candidate in Iowa’s third Congressional district.

Picture a hostage tied to the tracks. The train is coming. The kidnappers demand a ransom, and the so-called heroes in Washington hand them the keys to the vault.

That’s what happened this fall. After 43 days of a federal government shutdown, Congress reopened the government but left millions of working Americans still bound to the rails. The funding bill keeps programs like SNAP food assistance running, restores federal pay, and prevents layoffs. Those things matter. But what didn’t make it into the deal will hurt far longer than any shutdown: the failure to extend the enhanced premium tax credits under the Affordable Care Act.

Xavier Carrigan is a Democratic candidate in Iowa’s third Congressional district. He delivered these remarks at the Iowa Insurance Division’s August 19 public hearing on proposed increases in health insurance premiums for policies sold on Iowa’s Affordable Care Act exchange. Although he is not directly impacted by these potential price increases, he felt that sharing his own experience from recent years was important to add to the context of the unaffordability of health care in the U.S., as part of his fight for Medicare for All.

My name is Xavier Carrigan, and while I am running for the U.S. House, I am here today as a citizen who has been forced to navigate the ACA marketplace when I had no other insurance options.

I know what it’s like to lose your insurance and be thrown into a system where every choice is a bad choice. When you’re uninsured and dealing with a chronic condition, the marketplace becomes a cruel joke disguised as help.