The shutdown is due to Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., catering to the left flank of his party, Sen. Roger Marshall, R-Kan., told Newsmax Wednesday.
Appearing on "Rob Schmitt Tonight," Marshall dismissed claims by Democrats that the shutdown is about lowering healthcare costs for all Americans.
Democrats are demanding that Republicans extend expiring tax credits for people who buy health insurance through the Affordable Care Act marketplace.
"The problem with the Affordable Care Act is it's not affordable, and the subsidies they are talking about are wrought with fraud because of the way they set this up," Marshall said.
Marshall said the shutdown is the "Schumer shutdown."
"He shut this down because his far-left flank ... of his party wanted him to shut the government down," he said.
"The legacy left media wanted him to shut the government down, so now he's got to figure out a way to get it opened back up."
Marshall said two weeks prior to the shutdown, Democrats suddenly decided they want to do something about the expiring subsidies.
"With all due respect, even if we wanted to fix them, it would probably take a month just to figure out how to get rid of the fraud going forward," Marshall said.
"This is all a smokescreen."
The Kansas senator said that no matter what Congress does, marketplace premiums will go up 18% to 20%.
"It's not [President] Donald Trump's fault; this is a result of their failed Affordable Care Act," he said.
"Their Obamacare policies — their overregulation — has created a consolidation in the industry."
The consolidation has caused two or three insurance companies to dominate 90% of the market with each state having two or three hospital systems, Marshall said.
Marshall said he has proposed a bill to increase transparency in the market, requiring hospitals to tell patients how much everything will cost in advance.
"Could you imagine going to a restaurant and not knowing how much the steak costs versus the chicken?" he asked.
"We force hospitals to show their price tags; we expand healthcare savings accounts, which forces patients to become consumers again."
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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Sam Barron ✉
Sam Barron has almost two decades of experience covering a wide range of topics including politics, crime and business.
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