Americans across the country are now dealing with the fallout of Donald Trump and Republicans’ assault on our health care system, and the damage is widespread. Republicans slashed more than $1 trillion from Medicaid and the Affordable Care Act (ACA), ended health care tax credits, and rammed through massive giveaways to billionaires and big corporations. It’s a sweeping, coordinated effort to dismantle the pillars of care that hard-working families rely on, leaving them crushed under the weight of higher premiums and worse coverage. The result is a full-scale health care emergency where everyone, everywhere, pays the price.
Trump and the GOP Are Raising the Cost of Health Care For Everyone, Including People Who Are Covered Through Their Employers. Because the GOP tax bill does nothing to control health care costs and rips away coverage from millions, premiums are on the rise for the 160 million Americans who rely on employer-based coverage. Companies face the biggest increases in 15 years. When millions are pushed off life-saving coverage and have to resort to the emergency room for expensive care, the burden of uncompensated health care skyrockets, and costs spike for everyone. To make matters worse, the GOP is shuttering hospitals nationwide and driving up prices at nearby facilities. Everyone will pay the price because Republicans put tax breaks for billionaires and big corporations above the needs of real people.
By The Numbers, Trump and Republicans are:
- Ripping health care away from over 15 million Americans, including seniors, children, veterans, and people with disabilities, leading to higher bills and increased premiums for everyone.
- Raising premiums for 160 million Americans covered through their employer, straining the budgets of families already struggling with tariffs and the increasing cost of living.
- Hiking premiums for over 24 million Americans who buy insurance on their own, including rural Americans, small business owners, and middle-class families.
- Forcing low-income seniors on Medicare to pay thousands more each year for health care by raising their premiums and out-of-pocket costs.
- Imposing a sick tax on over 20 million low-income people on Medicaid, hitting them with new bills each time they see a doctor for diabetes, arthritis, or other illnesses.
- Showering drug companies with an $8 billion giveaway at the expense of seniors and taxpayers by driving up the cost of prescription drugs for seniors on Medicare.
- Forcing over 5 million people into medical debt by causing families who lose their coverage to take on an average of $22,280 in medical debt when they previously had none.
Here is how Trump and the GOP are raising health care costs for Americans who rely on:
Job-Based Health Insurance: Families with job-based health insurance will see higher prices at hospitals, higher premiums, and higher out-of-pocket costs. Because Trump’s Big, Ugly Bill does nothing to control health care costs, premium increases for employer-sponsored coverage are rapidly outpacing the rate of inflation and salary gains.
- According to multiple analyses from firms, premiums for employer-based coverage are expected to increase 9 percent in 2026. Premiums for small businesses are expected to skyrocket by double digits.
- Millions of families with job-based insurance could see their premiums rise by as much as $485 due to the costs of uncompensated care on health care facilities.
- When rural hospitals close, families may also be forced to pay an average of $500 more per hospital stay at the nearby facilities that remain open.
ACA Marketplaces: Republicans are ending tax credits for working families, raising costs, and ripping away health care from millions of Americans. Costs will skyrocket by an average of $700 for millions of families. Families will pay more than double for their health care. Unable to absorb Republican cost hikes, 5 million people will lose their health care altogether. While middle-class families face higher prices or lose their coverage, Republicans are giving tax breaks to the ultrarich and big corporations.
- A 60-year-old couple making $85,000 per year who currently pays about $7,200 for their coverage would see their annual premium costs skyrocket to about
- A middle-class family of four would see their premium increase by about $12,000 each year.
- Families who are unable to afford health insurance and lose their coverage could see their medical debt increase by as much as $22,800.
Medicare: Despite Trump’s countless promises not to cut Medicare, seniors with low incomes and those who rely on high-cost drugs such as lifesaving cancer treatments will be hit hardest of all.
- An older couple on Medicare with an annual income of $21,000 could see an additional $8,340 in health care costs each year due to the big, ugly bill. This jump in premiums and deductibles is more than double the increase in 2025.
- Seniors who rely on popular cancer drugs such as Keytruda and Opdivo will be forced to pay more for these lifesaving treatments thanks to Republicans granting Big Pharma a huge win that will allow them to bypass Medicare drug price negotiations.
Medicaid: Republicans are bankrolling billions in tax breaks for the wealthy by demanding $5 billion in new copayments or sick taxes from millions of hardworking families who make as little as $33,000 a year and already struggle to make ends meet. Because of the GOP tax scam, over 20 million low-income Americans will be forced to pay new fees every time they see a specialist for their diabetes, need dialysis for failing kidneys, or need to see an immunologist for arthritis starting in 2028.
- A family of four on Medicaid making $33,000 per year could be forced to pay up to $1,650 in new annual out-of-pocket costs due to the Trump sick tax.
- In addition, the millions on Medicaid who lose health care due to onerous red tape designed to throw them off their coverage may incur as much as $22,800 in medical debt each year.
