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John,
Over and over, Republicans keep saying they are about to release a health care plan. But they never release anything remotely adequate to meet the American people’s needs. That’s because they don’t want to say their real plan out loud: Take health care away from as many Americans as possible, all to give giant tax cuts to billionaires.
This week, the Senate held a vote on health care. Democrats offered a plan: Extend the Affordable Care Act subsidies for three years, so that millions of Americans can keep their health care. Senate Republicans blocked that plan, then failed to pass their own inadequate bill.
16 years after the ACA passed, Republicans have failed to release a health care plan of their own. They know that 24 million Americans are going to see their health care premiums double on average (in some cases, triple) when the ACA subsidies expire on January 1st.1 They know that Americans in rural areas, many of them Republican voters, will get hit the hardest. But Republicans don’t care.
The only way to protect health care for all Americans is at the ballot box. Social Security Works has big plans for 2026. Can you chip in and become a Social Security Works member to power our work?
The Republican north star is to take health care away from non-billionaires to give tax cuts to billionaires. Republicans are so focused on this goal that they are willing to throw their own voters under the bus, and risk a massive political backlash.
The ACA cuts are just one of the body blows Republicans are inflicting on our health care system. In the spring, they voted to cut $1 trillion from Medicaid — which is forcing hospitals and nursing homes that rely on Medicaid funding to close.2 Once again, rural areas are hit hardest. In the same legislation, Republicans gave billionaires and big corporations a multi-trillion dollar tax cut.
Republican politicians don’t believe that non-billionaires deserve health care. They think working people exist to serve the interests of the billionaires. If we get sick, we’re no longer of any benefit to the billionaires. When Republican Senator Joni Ernst (R-IA) was asked about the impact of Medicaid cuts, she replied that “We are all going to die.”3
The unspoken part: If you’re not a billionaire, we want you to die quickly and painfully, without the health care you need.
Together, we can make health care a human right in this country. But it’s going to take all of us, working as one. Can you make a membership donation to Social Security Works to power our work?
Here’s what we saw this week: The Senate held a vote on extending the ACA subsidies. Every Republican voted no, which is a vote to double and triple the health care premiums of millions of Americans.
The House may yet hold a show vote to extend subsidies, secure in the knowledge that the Senate will never pass it. Republicans in competitive congressional districts claim they support extending the subsidies, but that’s a lie. They won’t even work with Democrats to bring it to a vote.
If, by some miracle, the Senate and House pass legislation extending the subsidies, Donald Trump will veto it. He has made it clear that he stands with his fellow billionaires, not working people.4
As for the ever-anticipated Republican health care plan? If they release anything it will be a fig leaf like expanded health savings accounts — which can’t be used to pay for insurance premiums.5 These are just attempts to shift blame, not get anyone health care.
We have a plan to make sure the blame lands where it belongs: on Republican politicians. Can you make sure the plan succeeds by becoming a Social Security Works member today?
The bottom line is that Republicans are plunging us into a health care apocalypse. If you aren’t a billionaire, your health care is about to get worse. Despite Democrats giving them every opportunity to change course, Republicans are full steam ahead with their destruction of our health care system. They will pay the price next November.
Alex Lawson
Social Security Works
1 https://www.kff.org/affordable-care-act/aca-marketplace-premium-payments-would-more-than-double-on-average-next-year-if-enhanced-premium-tax-credits-expire/
2 https://www.americanprogress.org/article/1-trillion-in-medicaid-cuts-1-trillion-in-tax-giveaways-for-the-richest-1-percent-the-one-big-beautiful-bills-budget-math/
3 https://www.bbc.com/news/videos/czdy7j51517o
4 https://www.axios.com/2025/11/18/trump-takes-harder-line-on-aca-subsidies
5 https://kffhealthnews.org/news/article/health-savings-accounts-hsa-insurance-premiums-republicans-obamacare/
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