This is what health care looks like for Trump voters who propelled him back into the White House in 2024.
These health care assistance cuts were only made possible by Mr. Trump’s signing of the MAGA Republican Big Billionaires First Act, a vile piece of legislation that robbed from the poor by way of reducing social welfare programs and gave to the nation’s wealthiest largely through unneeded tax cuts.
To call attention to what the Big Billionaires First Act has done to the nation’s most vulnerable health care, Arizona Congressional District Three Representative Yassamin Ansari, chairperson of the Congressional Progressive Caucus’ (CPC) Lowering Costs Taskforce, hosted a shadow hearing to discuss health care affordability and solutions to meet the crisis, including prescription drug cost reductions and a transition to Medicare for All.
The meeting was called “Patients Over Profits: Lowering Healthcare Costs for All Americans.”
Among the remarks by Representative Ansari at the hearing that her team chose to highlight were:
“Healthcare is a human right. This is foundational and self-explanatory. Everyone deserves to be healthy.
No one should suffer when we have the tools, resources, and capabilities to heal. And yet, we have sold off our healthcare to the highest bidder. Progressives are ready to tackle that issue with innovative policy and bold reforms.
We have the legislation, we have the vision, and the energy to see it through. With Medicare for All, we can provide every American with access to medically necessary healthcare. The health of our nation cannot continue to be at the whims of corporations. We need to pass medical debt forgiveness, regulate prescription drug pricing, and invest in preventative care…”
“…As part of the caucus’s broader work to be ready for when we take back the majority, to have a bold affordability agenda that we can build broad public support for and actually pass and govern. And I think we heard from you very clearly that, and what we’ve heard from other shadow hearings that we’ve done, town halls across the country that we’ve done, it’s time to be bold.
The system is deeply broken in healthcare and so many other areas, and it would be the biggest mistake that we could possibly make to have a majority and to not be ready to go and pass policies that will benefit Americans and show that we can really deliver.“
After the hearing, Representative Ansari said:
“It is just morally reprehensible, the current system that we have. We held a shadow hearing on healthcare and the fact that the system in the United States is so deeply broken. We heard from experts and advocates about the solutions that we need, like Medicare for All.
Addressing the cost of prescription prices, breaking up big pharma. All of these things are interrelated. It’s about wellness of the American public.
Our healthcare system is broken. I spoke with a woman who runs a little farm. She was paying less than $200. Her premium went up to $1,100. The fact that in Arizona, in my district, black women are five times more likely than white women to die while giving birth. Those are the real life consequences.
In the year 2026, it is unacceptable that so many Americans in this country are one paycheck away from losing everything. That means a medical bill and going to the doctor can quite literally be a matter of life or death. Many others, of course, are staying away from visiting healthcare centers and other public facilities because of their immigration status. We know that every single one of us is going to have to grapple with taking care of an elderly parent, taking care of a family member who is sick. The cost of that is so outrageous, upward of $65,000 a year, $150,000 if it’s more specialized care. That is just so unaffordable.”
In a press release issued after the hearing, Ansari wrote:
“Medicare and Medicaid need protections and reinforcement now more than ever. Insurance premiums are rising, and millions of Americans have been stripped of their healthcare, with the expectation for millions more to lose Medicare or Medicaid as well. Progressives are ready to tackle this issue with innovative policy and bold reforms. We have the legislation, the vision, and the energy to see it through. With Medicare for All, we can provide every American with access to medically necessary healthcare. The health of our nation cannot continue to be at the whims of corporations.”
Discover more from Blog for Arizona
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.