S.E. Williams
As the clock ticks toward Christmas and many rush around in search of that last special gift on our holiday list, others in our community and many across the nation are equally focused and concerned about the increased cost of health insurance they face in the coming year.
The Buddha taught that “Health is the greatest gift…” and yet many families will be unable to secure this gift due to the exorbitant increase in healthcare premiums resulting from Congress’ failure to extend the enhanced Affordable Care Act (Covered California) subsidies enacted during the throes of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Republican House members who failed to support the extension, especially during this period of economic turmoil that includes rising inflation and increased unemployment, provided another glaring example that their greatest priority is not the needs of those they were elected to serve but the demonic desires of their party leader Donald Trump.
Congress’ decision not to extend these subsidies as proposed by Congressional Democrats was made just as the CDC reported flu rates are rising rapidly nationwide and hospitalizations have hit their third highest level in nearly 15 years.
Considering we are a nation that’s been co-oped by a racist megalomaniac who is directing the actions of racist congressional lemmings, the blatant disregard for people of color and the working class of all colors is distressingly evident as it relates to healthcare among other issues.
Meanwhile, there is a modicum of good news. Just before the House of Representatives closed early for the holidays, four Republicans defied their “Dear Leader,” crossed over the political chasm and signed a discharge petition supporting the Democrats’ call for a vote on their bill. A discharge petition gives a small amount of power to individual House members to override House leadership and committee chairs and bring legislation to the floor for a vote without it having to pass out of committee.
“You’re a foul one, Mr. Grinch. You’re a nasty-wasty skunk. Your heart is full of unwashed socks. Your soul is full of gunk, Mr. Grinch. The three words that best describe you are as follows, and I quote, “stink, stank, stunk.”
Thurl Ravenscroft
The bill–if passed–will extend the COVID-19 era subsidies for another three years. The speaker is now required to bring the bill to the floor for a vote. There was time to take a vote on the Democrats’ bill before the holiday break. However, Johnson, now up against the wall and at high risk of disappointing his “Puppet Master” Donald Trump, decided instead to deploy another delay tactic. Rather than call for the vote, he sent House members home until the new year. This left millions and millions of Americans facing 2026 with uncertainty regarding the important issue of healthcare subsidies.
In July, Forbes reported the nation’s healthcare system is approaching a crisis that extends even beyond growing concerns over costs, although one of the first items of concern mentioned was the reality that costs are rising faster than the nation’s ability to pay.
Data tells the story. Between 2024 and 2025 combined, health expenditures rose an approximate 15.2%, while the economy is only projected to expand by about 4.3%.
Another area of vulnerability is related to healthcare jobs that are expanding while clinical outcomes are not improving. The report also pointed to many professionals in the field who are burned out and leaving the medical arena.
Experts note that any one of these alone is concerning but when all three are combined, it signals a pending healthcare crisis.
When we couple the potential loss of COVID-19 subsidies to the Affordable Care Act, with the $500 billion dollar cuts to Medicare and the $863 billion cuts to Medicaid included in Trump’s 2026 budget, the pending health crisis becomes more real and the need for a sustainable solution—more urgent.
Ironically, as people are being priced out or cut off from access to healthcare, the healthcare industry is now the largest employment sector in the nation surpassing both retail and manufacturing. Some experts point to the nation’s aging population and worsening chronic diseases as some of the things driving this growth.
Meanwhile, as health needs expand and healthcare costs skyrocket, the Trump administration’s DOGE folly during the first part of the year, pushed nearly 280,000 federal employees (about 9% of all federal workers) into the unemployment line—with Black women being severely impacted. This does not include indirect job losses due to these cuts.
In the final analysis more than 70 million Americans depend on Medicaid and at least 60 million more are Medicare beneficiaries. Many of these individuals and families are unable to absorb the financial impact of these changes.
It is very likely that had House Speaker Johnson put the Democrat’s Affordable Care Act subsidies extension bill on the floor for a vote, it may have passed and provided some mental and fiscal relief for families as they prepared for Christmas. Instead, he chose to be the Grinch that stole Christmas from Americans across the country in 2025.
Of course, this is just my opinion. I’m keeping it real.