Remember when Juan Ciscomani was going to save the day for some of his hard-working constituents and others in America left in the lurch by H.R. 1, known as the One Big Beautiful Bill Act? Rammed through a Republican Congress last year to make all the GOP’s fondest dreams (tax cuts for the rich, Medicaid and food assistance cuts for the poor, colossal new funding to round upt and ship out the immigrants who could have contributed to our society) come true all at once, the bill was also notable for one thing it did NOT do.
The Affordable Care Act is a government-sponsored program to subsidize health insurance for lower-income people. It became law in 2010, and has led to a precipitous drop in people without health insurance. See this:
But the Act needs to be re-authorized every three years, most recently before 2025 ran out. The OBBBA didn’t include that authorization. Without the subsidies, folks depending on the ACA would see their insurance premiums rise precipitously, in many cases more than they could afford to pay.
Juan said this was bad, bad, bad, and “I have taken up the charge,” to save the situation. He sounded like Teddy Roosevelt, riding hellbent with his “Rough Riders” (who included many Arizonans) to the top of San Juan Hill. Except that Teddy and his guys really intended to get to the top of the hill, enemy fire be damned. Ciscomani, a loyal servant to the House of Representatives leadership, would rather have been anywhere but in their sights, since they wanted the subsidies to die. (The ACA is often called “Obamacare” after the President who got it through Congress. He was a Democrat so, of course, in GOP eyes this innovation has got to go.)
Our representative let us know he had sponsored a bill to extend the subsidies for a year while Congress would work on a better plan. But Democrats in the House had a super idea—a full three-year extension. They needed a few Republican votes to get the bill through, and they got them. Juan Ciscomani did not join the crusade. He even voted against letting the Democrats’ bill come to a vote at all.
Now, the real bills for ACA users (including one in every 25 residents in Congressional District 6) have come due. Many can’t afford to pay the new unsubsidized premiums, according to the Wall Street Journal: “Nationally, around 14% of those who enrolled in ACA plans this year didn’t pay their first monthly bill for January coverage. In some states, the share was a quarter or more.”
Here, it’s worse: “Blue Cross Blue Shield of Arizona said that as of the end of March, it has lost more than 30% of the members who initially signed up for 2026 ACA plans, nearly all because they made no payments before the end of the grace period. Last year, the insurer lost only about 2% of its enrollees for nonpayment at the end of the grace period… ‘It is simply because the cost of health insurance is more than what they can afford,’ Chief Executive Pam Kehaly said.”
KFF, a health-care information organization, surveyed people in the ACA “Marketplace” and found that “One in ten (9%) 2025 Marketplace enrollees say they are now currently uninsured and three in ten (28%) say they switched to a different Marketplace plan. When asked the reasoning behind their change, a larger share say costs were the driver rather than changes to their health care needs”.
The Democratic bill that passed while Ciscomani sat on his hands, instead of his noble steed, is in the hands of the Senate, where negotiations are (slowly) underway to come up with a solution. A successful Senate bill will have to come back to the House for a vote, putting Juan on the hot seat again. It would be funny, if it weren’t so sad.
So, the bill (the kind you have to pay) is due now for men, women, and children who have depended on the Affordable Care Act. The bill for Juan Ciscomani should come due November 3. We recommend not paying him with your vote.
Sources:
wsj.com/health/healthcare/around-14-of-enrollees-in-aca-plans-failed-to-make-payments-data-shows
kff.org/public-opinion/a-follow-up-survey-of-aca-marketplace-enrollees
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