Thursday, Oct. 23 — Virginia U.S. Senator Mark Warner today called on President Trump to postpone his impending trip to Asia until the government shutdown is ended and vital health care subsidies are reinstated prior to a Nov. 1 deadline. He said that the Virginia State Corporation Commission has already begun sending out notices of stunning increases in health care costs that will kick in on Nov. 1 if no action is taken to avert them.

     “We are facing a health care cliff,” he said. He cited the case of a breast care survivor in Virginia Beach whose current monthly health care cost is $298 per month going up to $1,018 per month in just 10 days.

     Warner said that SNAP food assistance programs are also in jeopardy due to the shutdown on top of what has been done to federal workers and contractors that he called “just plain cruel.”

     He said Republicans in Congress have told him they can do nothing without Trump’s direct OK, so that if Trump heads out of the country for a week to 10 days, the worst effects of the shutdown will manifest, “This could be resolved in an hour if he stayed to take care of it,” Warner said.