This Mother’s Day, Republicans are making it impossible for moms and their families to access affordable health care. Too many families are being forced to choose between paying for health care and buying food, clothing, and other necessities. As a result, our nation’s mothers are trying to find an extra job or working more hours, skipping or delaying paying other bills, or forgoing health care coverage altogether. Roughly 15 million Americans are losing health care coverage thanks to the GOP’s cuts to Medicaid and their failure to extend ACA premium tax credits. Their big, ugly bill increases costs for millions of Americans by imposing a sick tax on over 20 million low-income people who rely on Medicaid, increasing their health care costs by an average of $1,650 in new bills each year, and nearly 22 million others will see their health care premiums double, triple, and even quadruple without tax credits to lower costs.
Fast Facts:
Republicans are Putting Care Out of Reach for Pregnant Women and New Moms
- Medicaid provides the care for over 40 percent of births, including the majority in several Republican-controlled states, including Louisiana, Mississippi, and Oklahoma.
- Since the passage of their big, ugly bill, over 40 maternity care providers, including over 25 obstetric care units, have closed or announced closure, over 130 units remain at risk, and obstetric clinicians are facing cuts in payment rates.
- 1 in 3 counties currently do not have a single birthing facility or obstetric clinician. That number is growing thanks to Republican health care cuts.
Caregivers, Who Are Majority Women, Are Losing Access to Compensation and Coverage Thanks to Big, Ugly Bill Cuts
- Over 60 percent of caregivers are women, and nearly half are part of the “sandwich generation” that is taking care of young children at home and their aging parents.
- Republican cuts will undoubtedly result in reductions to Medicaid’s long-term services and support (LTSS) programs play a critical role in compensating caregivers for the care they provide. 47 states and the District of Columbia have programs to provide payment to caregivers through Medicaid waivers or state plan options.
- In 2023, nearly 20 percent of women who did not work reported caregiving responsibilities as their reason.
Trump and RFK Jr. are Waging War on Pregnancy Care and Abortion Access
- Medicaid coverage is at risk for the 1 in 5 women of reproductive age who rely on the program’s family planning services, including contraceptives, gynecologic exams and testing, and treatment for sexually transmitted infections.
- Coverage cuts are disproportionately affecting Black women who are 71 percent more likely to die from cervical cancer than their white counterparts. Black and Latina women also make up 80 percent of women living with HIV or AIDS.
- Several states’ Medicaid programs that cover fertility preservation for people whose medical treatments, such as chemotherapy, may cause infertility are also at risk for cuts.
- HHS has rescinded Biden‑era guidance that had required federally funded pharmacies to dispense methotrexate and misoprostol when prescribed for autoimmune disease, ectopic pregnancy, or miscarriage care.
- RFK Jr. has ordered the FDA to launch a new review of medication abortion based on junk science from anti‑abortion groups, endorsed wastewater surveillance aimed at tracking and restricting abortion pill use, and decimated the family planning office at HHS, effectively ending an initiative to provide contraception to millions of low-income women.
Who Are the Millions of Moms Suffering at the Hands of Republicans’ Devastating Health Care Cuts?
Rachel Rosekind, 49, an El Cerrito mother and self-employed freelancer is one of 82,000 Alameda County residents who get their health insurance through Covered California and saw their monthly premiums skyrocket this past January.
“‘I have a knot in my stomach every single day,’ said Rosekind… whose monthly premium will go from $0 to $2,500 a month for her family of four. […] However, when she went to re-enroll this year, she discovered that they’re now facing a daunting monthly payment. ‘We could not afford $30,000 a year in insurance without going into medical debt,’ Rosekind said.” [Berkeley Side]
Jayme Wernicke, 34, a receptionist and single mother from Chico, California who makes less than $50,000 per year saw her premiums rise by over $200 after tax credits expired. She decided to drop her own health insurance and pay the state tax penalty.
“For them to raise my health insurance almost 400% is just insane to me,” Wernicke said. [LA Times]
Mothers from across the country are deciding between going uninsured or paying upwards of thousands of dollars for health care coverage. Maddie Bannister, a mother from California, was paying $124 per month for her family of three in 2025. In 2026, without premium tax credits and the addition of a new baby, their health insurance premiums increased to $908. Her family has put off purchasing a home due to the cost increases of health care.
“‘So many people are going to choose to be uninsured because it’s cheaper to pay a penalty for being uninsured than it is to have healthcare,’ Bannister said.” [BBC]
Adrienne Martin, 47, mother from Texas, saw her family’s health care premiums increase by $1,770. Her family began stockpiling her husband’s medicine that costs $70,000 per month without insurance to survive the first few months of 2026.
“‘It would be like paying two mortgage payments,’ Martin said [about the increased price of health insurance premiums]. ‘We can’t pay $30,000 for insurance a year.’” [BBC]
Jessica Chamberlain, 43, a mother of two from Illinois saw her monthly premiums nearly double, going from $59.67 to nearly $100 per month or an additional $1,200 per year. She decided to forego health coverage, alongside nearly one in 10 ACA Marketplace enrollees who dropped their coverage in 2026.
“‘I can’t afford that as a single mom with two kids,’ Chamberlain said. ‘What do I sacrifice [to pay for health insurance]? I’m diabetic. What do I have to sacrifice to keep my medications and my health afloat? This is destroying people who have pre-existing conditions. It is affecting people, especially single moms. We’re just trying to live.’” [ABC]
Leisa and Kent Walker rely on Medicaid to pay for caregivers for their son Sam, 35, who suffers from severe autism, deafness, and other disabilities. Sam’s caregivers allow him to live at home instead of in a specialized nursing home located in another state. Medicaid pays $8,500 per month for caregivers to visit Sam at home to help him do everyday tasks like bathing, dressing, and eating. Moving Sam into an institution would cost the state’s Medicaid program $22,000 per month, more than double what his home care costs.
Regarding the Trump administration’s claim that Medicaid cuts are to stop waste, fraud, and abuse, Leisa Walker said, “‘These are real people, real families, and this causes real suffering when you do this to people,’ she said. ‘It’s a very scary time.’” [KFF Health News]
Child care workers across the country are being impacted by Medicaid cuts. In Nebraska alone, an estimated 228 child care providers could lose Medicaid coverage. Malissie Plugge, mom of Margo and Violet, lost child care this past January when the provider’s home health nurse for her mother became no longer covered by Medicaid due to state funding cuts. Since 2019, Nebraska has seen a 30 percent decrease in child care providers and with Medicaid cuts disproportionately affecting these workers, that number is likely to dwindle further. Finding new daycare options for Margo and Violet was not easy and will cost the Plugge family an additional $500 per month.
“‘It’s so hard to find a good day care that you feel super safe and comfortable with […] we’ve all just been really sad,’ Plugge said. […] ‘The kids have cried about it. I’ve cried about it. She cried about it.’ […] ‘We don’t eat out and we don’t do a lot of shopping and all of those things, so it’s like, what’s left to cut?’” [Flatwater Free Press]
Curressia Brown of Greenwood, Mississippi, knows the dangers of being in a hospital desert all too well. She was eight months pregnant when she went into heart failure and was rushed five miles to the hospital, where they saved her and her now 23-year-old daughter’s lives. Greenwood Leflore Hospital is now at risk of closure due to financial troubles that are only getting worse. A closure would mean residents would have to drive over 30 miles away to the next closest hospital.
“‘But for Greenwood Leflore Hospital, I wouldn’t be here, nor would my daughter,’ said Brown.” [Mississippi Today]
Baptist Health in Fort Smith, Arkansas, announced the closure of its labor and delivery unit due to the rising cost of specialized care and decrease in births. Zoe Thompson had her first child at Baptist Health and was planning on having her second there as well. Now, Thompson will have to switch providers at 20 weeks pregnant, and it isn’t clear where patients will go for care.
“‘Having a baby is scary […] I feel like having to experience even more with this change and more scariness,’ Thompson said. ‘I’m kind of freaking out, to be honest.’” [5 News Online]
Kassidy Hooter, 24, of Shreveport, Louisiana, is a mother of 3 and in her final trimester of a high-risk pregnancy. Following the expiration of premium tax credits this past January, Hooter saw her health care costs increase by thousands of dollars annually. Even with a baby on the way, Hooter and her family could not afford this additional cost and decided to forego insurance altogether.
“‘We heavily considered that it might just be cheaper to give birth at home,’ Hooter said. ‘Just because that’s an insane amount of debt to take on.’” [CBS News]