U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer took a few minutes around lunchtime Thursday to slam health care cuts in the federal government.

Schumer focused on the looming expiration of tax credits that he said will send health insurance costs soaring for New Yorkers. The Democrat senator spoke for about 10 minutes in a Zoom meeting with reporters across the state.

“The average family (in New York) will see rates go up 40% a month — that could be 400 or 500 bucks a month,” claimed Schumer, declaring that “working families” will be hard-pressed to handle it.

“We can’t let these tax credits that make health care more affordable expire,” said Schumer, alleging that Republicans “want to kick the can down the road… Three times we offered amendments to offer credits, and three times the Republicans said no.”

Schumer claimed the Republican Party has “right-wing leadership who don’t want anybody to have health care.”

He said he is offering legislation that could put the tax credits in place permanently. Schumer moved on to region by region numbers of how the tax credit cuts will affect people. He stated that in Western New York, it will add about $3,200 to annual health care costs for the average couple. He cited similar numbers across upstate New York.

With the Miami Dolphins set to play in Buffalo later in the day, Schumer couldn’t resist some pro-Bills references. “We’re going to squish the fish,” he said.

“We have a proposal that would restore these cuts,” Schumer reiterated. “The Republicans right now, they’re not even sitting down and talking to us.”

The senator concluded, “Time’s running out — we need to stop the premium hikes for New Yorkers.”