QuickTake:

U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden, Oregon’s senior Democratic senator, said the federal government shutdown and rising health care costs are inflicting harm that is avoidable. 

U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden said rising health care costs are a chief concern amid the federal shutdown — an event that will continue at least into next week.

The federal shutdown started Oct. 1, after Senate Democrats unsuccessfully tried to pass a bill that included a permanent extension of tax credits for people who rely on health insurance through the Affordable Care Act marketplace. Because a 60-vote majority is needed to advance a spending bill in the Senate, the 53-vote Republican majority was not enough to advance a GOP-backed continuing resolution to keep the government funded. 

“What’s really driving the shutdown is this question of health care, and I want it understood that I’ll work with anybody once you do the right thing,” Wyden said in a brief call with Lookout Eugene-Springfield after he got off the Senate floor Friday.

Wyden said the reality of rising health insurance premiums is beginning to sink in for some of his colleagues.

“They’re hearing from home how big the hit is in terms of extra expenses for health insurance premiums,” Wyden said. “That’s what I’ve heard senators talk about.”

There’s also misinformation, Wyden said. For example, undocumented people are not eligible to receive Medicaid, Medicare or Children’s Health Insurance Program, federal programs that serve low-income, disabled and senior citizens, Wyden said.

“There is no effort, none, zero of Senate Democrats to change that,” Wyden said. 

Wyden, the ranking member of the Senate Finance committee, said his position is very clear. 

“I’m always willing to talk,” he said. “I’ll talk with anybody who wants to do the right thing.”

With open enrollment coming in November for health insurance plans on the federal marketplace, Wyden said the impacts will ripple out.

“It adds to the needless pain in every single corner of Oregon,” he said. 

For now, the shutdown is continuing. Local and state officials have said that services will continue for now, including Medicaid, federally-funded food benefits and Head Start programs for children. But the longer the shutdown persists, the more difficult it will become to access necessary funding. 

Wyden said he expects to see more votes happen in the Senate Monday.

“I’m continuing to talk to senators of both political parties,” he said. “Health care is the area I’ve always thought was the most important, because if you and your loved ones don’t have your health care, everything else goes by the board. So I’ll be working a lot on this over the next day and a half, and I’m certain we’ll have votes early Monday.”

Ben Botkin covers politics and policy in Lane County. He has worked as a journalist since 2003, most recently at the Oregon Capital Chronicle, where he covered justice, health and human services and documented regional efforts to combat fentanyl addiction. Botkin has worked in statehouses in Idaho, Nevada, Oklahoma and, of course, Oregon. When he's not working, you'll find him road tripping across the West, hiking or surfing along the Oregon Coast.