MEMORANDUM
TO: Interested Parties
FROM: Leslie Dach and Brad Woodhouse, Protect Our Care
DATE: September 19, 2025
RE: Republicans Are Shutting Down the Government to Continue Their War on Health Care
Introduction
American health care is in crisis. Since taking power, Donald Trump and congressional Republicans have launched an all-out assault on our health care system. From hiking premium costs on the middle class, to slashing Medicaid, to driving rural hospitals off a cliff, they have created a disaster for working families and only helped billionaires get richer. Now, they want to end health insurance tax credits for working people, putting affordable care out of reach for millions—and they’re threatening to shut down the government to do it.
Republicans control the House, the Senate, and the White House. If the government shuts down, it’s because they chose to shut it down rather than pass a budget that serves the American people. Democrats won’t go along with a budget that perpetuates the GOP health care crisis. We stand united in the fight to protect health care. This week, Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and U.S. Senators Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH) and Tammy Baldwin (D-WI) joined Protect Our Care to call on Republicans to permanently extend the ACA tax credits and protect the health care of millions across the country.
The Toll Of The GOP War on Health Care
This summer, Republicans passed the largest health care cuts in history to fund tax cuts for billionaires. Their bill is stripping health care from over 15 million Americans and hiking costs for millions of working-class families – all while giving tax breaks to billionaires and big corporations. And while Republicans extended scores of tax breaks for the wealthy and made them permanent, at the same time, they refused to do the same for millions of Americans who depend on tax credits to afford life-saving care.
Families across the country are paying the price of the Trump-GOP budget bill. From California to Maine, hospitals and clinics are closing. Insurance companies are jacking up premiums. Seniors are being priced out of their prescriptions. Republicans ripped away tax credits that helped millions of families afford coverage. Here’s a closer look at who is hurt under the GOP tax scam:
📈 Premiums will skyrocket by an average of 75 percent for over 20 million Americans, including rural Americans, small business owners, and middle-class families.
🧾 Over 20 million low-income people will now face new bills each time they see a doctor for diabetes, arthritis, or other illnesses.
💸 Over 5 million people will be forced into taking on as much as $22,280 in medical debt.
🏥 330 hospitals, 570 nursing homes, and hundreds of clinics are now at risk of closing across the country, forcing more Americans to travel further for maternity care and emergency rooms, and face longer wait times and higher costs.
🚨 Emergency rooms will become packed with patients who are unable to cover the cost of their care without insurance, leading to higher bills and increased premiums for everyone.
🏚️ Health care costs will spike for everyone as rural hospitals close and drive up costs at nearby facilities.
🩺 Over 15 million Americans will lose health care coverage, including seniors, children, veterans, and people with disabilities.
🛑 Seniors and working families will face red tape and find it much harder to enroll in Medicare and Medicaid.
💰 Low-income seniors will be forced to pay thousands more each year for health care by raising their premiums and out-of-pocket costs.
💊 Seniors and taxpayers will pay more for prescription drugs because the GOP gave Big Pharma a multibillion-dollar bailout by allowing big drug companies to avoid Medicare drug price negotiations on a wider class of drugs.
The fallout of the GOP war on health care doesn’t stop there. By confirming RFK Jr. to lead HHS, Republicans have dismantled the CDC, gutted medical research, restricted vaccine access, and spread deadly misinformation. RFK Jr. and Donald Trump have created a public health catastrophe that will only worsen as they continue to slash Medicaid, hike premiums, and drug costs for the American people.
Read Protect Our Care’s latest report on the Republican war on health care as they threaten to shut down the government so that they can end health insurance tax credits for working people and put affordable care further out of reach for millions.
The Bottom Line
Republicans are willing to shut down the government to ensure hardworking Americans lose the lifeline that helps them afford to see a doctor while keeping a roof over their heads and food on the table. Democrats stand ready and united to protect the American people from the devastation of these Republican policies. It’s time for Republicans to help clean up the mess they created, extend the tax credits permanently, restore coverage, and protect the health and well-being of millions across the country.