WASHINGTON (CN) – U.S. Representative Jennifer McClellan joined advocates and nonprofits in calling on her Republican colleagues to protect access to health care on Monday, which marked the 16th anniversary of the Affordable Care Act.
“My Republican colleagues in Congress chose to make over $1 trillion in cuts to Medicaid and the Affordable Care Act in order to pay billionaire taxes for Musk and Jeff Bezos,” the Virginia Democrat said during a press conference. “At a time when energy prices are skyrocketing because of Donald Trump’s war on Iran, food and housing prices are skyrocketing because of Trump’s tariffs and trade wars, many people have to choose which bills to pay and gamble that they won’t get sick or hurt — but when they do get sick and hurt, they’ll go to the hospital and come back to us to rest.”
Also known as Obamacare, the Affordable Care Act expanded health insurance coverage to over 40 million Americans by providing subsidies for private insurance and expanding Medicaid eligibility. However, Republicans voted to eliminate increased tax credits that help those with low or moderate incomes afford health insurance as part of last summer’s so-called Big Beautiful Bill.
The expiration of refundable tax credits on Jan. 1 has already resulted in 25,000 Virginians dropping their coverage and 19,000 fewer enrollments this year compared to 2025. Laura Buller, a dog sitter in Charlottesville, Virginia, said she placed many of her health concerns on the backlog of Carford’s health insurance coverage.
“I believe without that help, I would have been hospitalized several times. I would probably be in significant financial debt at this point due to health issues,” Buller said. “But because the ACA was passed, I was able to get insurance that was able to help me deal with those issues early on.”
Buller said her premiums have increased by $100 in the last year.
Patients are also bracing for cuts in Medicaid eligibility planned for 2027. According to the Congressional Budget Office, a new 80-hour-a-month work requirement will cause about 5 million Medicaid recipients to lose coverage.
“Health care should not be a partisan issue,” McClellan said. “There are more people, states that Donald Trump won, who are going to lose their health insurance, so this shouldn’t be a Democrat or Republican issue.”
Kenda Denia, founder and executive director of Birth in Color, a nonprofit organization focused on the health care of black mothers, said the cuts particularly affect women who benefited from ACA coverage for prenatal, reproductive care and cancer screening.
“These cuts will force women to make impossible choices, choosing between groceries and doctor visits, between rent and prenatal care, and let’s remember, Medicaid covers one in five women who seek family planning services in this country, including contraception and essential care for gynecologists,” Denia said. “If these cuts go ahead, the consequences will be devastating.”
Provisions of the Big Beautiful Bill, which are under judicial review, would freeze Medicaid funding for nonprofits like Planned Parenthood that provide abortion care. Planned Parenthood also offers a wealth of care outside of abortion care, including testing and treatment for sexually transmitted diseases, breast and cervical cancer screenings, and contraceptives. Virginia’s uninsured rate for adult women dropped from 16% to 8% after the ACA passed.
“Progress is never permanent if we don’t protect it and today, we are facing a dangerous moment,” said Denia. “When access to care disappears, the maternal mortality crisis will only worsen.”
According to one REPORT from Protect Our Care, a nonprofit organization focused on expanding health care coverage, the cuts will hurt women of color more than their white counterparts. Specifically, noncitizens who have been in the country less than five years would lose Medicaid eligibility.
McClellan said the cuts are causing a ripple effect throughout the economy. In Virginia, three rural health care providers have closed, citing a decrease in Medicaid patients as the main reason.
“I’m very concerned not only about the impact it has on individuals who now either don’t have health insurance or can’t afford it, but in some of these areas where these providers are closing, they’re one of the largest employers,” McClellan said. “So now people are unemployed and then they don’t have health insurance.”
Democrats in the Virginia legislature are split on how much to provide in the state budget to offset ACA marketplace premium increases. The proposed Senate budget provides $200 million, while the budget passed by the House of Delegates will provide $79 million.
McClellan said the onus should be on the federal government, rather than state and local governments, to fill gaps in health care coverage and food assistance programs.
“We’re overburdening our state and local governments because Congress — Congressional Republicans, especially — decided it was more important that people who make over $500,000 a year should have a tax credit so they can buy a new boat,” the Virginia congresswoman said. “Their priorities are all wrong.”
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