As insurers propose another year of steep premium increases and Republicans’ Medicaid cuts rip coverage away from millions of Americans, families across the country are sounding the alarm about what the GOP health care crisis looks like in their everyday lives. Tyler in New York is cutting down on groceries, including beef and pork, to make room for higher insurance costs in his budget. Madison in North Carolina is rationing her medication and accumulating medical debt after losing coverage she could no longer afford. Tywon in Montana worries that Medicaid work requirements will force him off the coverage he needs to get healthy enough to work.
Donald Trump and Republicans gutted $1 trillion from Medicaid and the Affordable Care Act and ripped away health care tax credits to fund tax breaks for billionaires and big corporations. Now, more than eight million Americans have lost the coverage they relied on to see a doctor when they’re sick and over 1,100 hospitals, nursing homes, and other critical providers are shuttering, cutting services, or are at risk of closure or cuts. These stories are a window into the devastating consequences of Republicans’ health care cuts as families across the country pay the price.
Adena Hope Bank, Pima County, Arizona
- “Adena Hope Bank, a self-employed clinical social worker in Pima County, gets her health insurance through the ACA marketplace. She said it is her only option and has grown more expensive over the years. ‘For this year of 2026, I’ve been paying, it’s not exactly $1,100. It’s $1,089 and change,’ Bank said.”
- “Bank, who lives with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, said the rising healthcare costs over recent years have already changed how she manages her care. ‘I’ll be very honest. I eat less,’ she said. ‘I’m furious and I’m terrified because already I am staying away from doctors as much as I can.’”
- “Bank said a further increase could push her off the marketplace entirely. ‘If it goes up another $200 a month, then I am, let’s say, $1,300. I’ll either go off the marketplace, you know, I will figure out something,’ Bank said.” [AZ Family]
Diego Vasquez, College Grove, California
- “Vasquez, who works in construction, said he currently goes without health insurance himself so he can afford coverage for his wife and their 15-month-old daughter through Covered California. ‘It’s getting hard to afford rent and pay insurance,’ Vasquez said. Because his construction work provides an unpredictable income, Vasquez said his family is often forced to make difficult financial decisions. ‘It gets kind of hard on us to be able to afford everything, so sometimes we have to make choices,’ he said. If premiums increase significantly, Vasquez said his family may consider dropping their health insurance and paying the state’s tax penalty instead if it costs less than maintaining coverage.” [CBS8]
Annan Paterson, Salinas, California
- “Annan Paterson, who has multiple sclerosis, expressed her fears about losing insurance. ‘And then I learned that my medicine costs $79,000 a year for two infusions. For my MS. And I thought, what am I going to do? I want to be around as long as possible for my grandkids. How am I going to afford that if I don’t have my insurance?’ she said.” [KSBW]
Tywon Pugh, Missoula, Montana
- “Tywon Pugh has seizures that make it hard to find and keep a job. ‘They called me a ‘liability to the job site,’’ Pugh said, recalling the words of his manager when a seizure cost him his last job at a fast-food restaurant in this western Montana city. When the 46-year-old lost work in the past, his wife of 10 years covered their rent and he tended to their home until he found another job. But his wife died last year. Soon after, Pugh became homeless. His problem with alcohol became worse, which made managing his seizures more difficult. ‘When she died, my whole base was depleted,’ Pugh said. Medicaid pays for the prescriptions that keep Pugh’s seizures at bay. The government-subsidized health coverage would also pay for an addiction treatment program that Pugh said he has tried to get into, but he was told there’s a waitlist. Pugh’s goal has been to get healthy enough to work again. But he’s worried about being able to keep the Medicaid coverage he needs to get to that point.” [KFF Health News]
Tyler Lyons, Syracuse, New York
- “Lyons’ story of increasing health insurance costs is all too common for anyone watching their premiums soar each year. And while an extra $250 a month — $3,000 a year — isn’t easy, he’s far from alone in having to cope. ‘I definitely had to reconfigure my budget plan,’ said Lyons, who lives in Syracuse’s Valley neighborhood. ‘The big things are mortgage, utilities and food. Mortgage and utilities I can’t change. What I have to pay more in insurance had to come out of food.’”
- “Still, every time Lyons goes shopping, he is constantly reminded of his higher insurance costs. ‘I have to be a lot more careful about groceries,’ he said. ‘I had to cut out certain proteins, like beef and pork. Stuff like that. Be a lot more frugal about what I have.’” [Syracuse.com]
Madison Maxwell, Black Mountain, North Carolina
- “Their premium would have increased from $285 a month for the two of them on a bronze plan — the lowest level option aside from catastrophic plans, which have limited eligibility — to nearly $600 a month for a comparable plan. ‘When I saw the numbers, I mean, it was like a punch in the gut,’ said Maxwell.”
- “Since losing coverage, Maxwell said the couple has begun accumulating medical debt. They have about $2,000 in medical debt now.”
- “Losing coverage has left Maxwell worried about how she would handle a medical emergency. She and her husband both have asthma, and she said she has been rationing her medication while using a supply she stocked up on before their coverage ended. She is also concerned about affording routine screenings, including mammograms and colonoscopies. Her husband works a dangerous job cutting down trees and has already needed physical therapy for shoulder problems. ‘If something were to happen to him and it was catastrophic, I don’t know what we would do,’ Maxwell said. ‘If I had a sudden need to be hospitalized or we found something on my mammogram, that would put me in a much more dire place financially. I do think about that, and I do worry about that.’” [The News & Observer]
Mark Steigerwald, Eau Claire County, Wisconsin
- “‘I’m a cancer survivor—colon cancer—for six years.’ Cancer survivor Mark Steigerwald owns a small business in Eau Claire County. ‘I’m not a slacker,’ Mark said. ‘I don’t take advantage of the system. I work hard. I employ people.’”
- “‘And with the new bill—the big crappy bill—I lost the subsidies that were in place before.’ ‘And last year, I paid $938 a month for my health insurance for my wife and I. This year, it’s $2,743 a month. That’s a $21,600 increase.’”
- “Mark explained he has to have regular doctor visits, tests, scans, and follow-ups to catch any potential recurrence, so he has to have insurance. ‘I did call private insurance companies and none of them would take a cancer patient. So I have the option of the ACA only.’ Mark says he’s at least fortunate that his business allows him to work more in order to bring in extra revenue—most people wouldn’t be able to afford an increase of $20,000. ‘I think about farmers and I think about other businesses that run slimmer margins, and I think ‘how are those guys going to make it?’ They’re going without or they’re skimping on plans, and I’m lucky I don’t have to do that. But it’s not good.’” [UpNorthNews]