Senator Bernie Sanders Says Affordable Care Act Needed

In this day and age when Republicans are putting forth ramshackle health care plans with sky-high deductibles, more Americans need healthcare than ever before.

Senator Bernie Sanders, the Independent Senator from Vermont, has published several white papers showing the effects of the “The One Big Beautiful Bill” on Americans.

They are being systematically priced out of their Affordable Healthcare Plans because H.R. 1 (“The One Big Beautiful Bill”) ends healthcare subsidies that made healthcare insurance affordable to a huge segment of lower to working-class Americans. Typical are every day business owners, employees of small to medium sized businesses, and non-government contract workers who often work at jobs with no health insurance offered.

The people who voted for Trump, such as Chinese restaurant owners, will now regret their vote. So will other service industry workers, such as laundromats and retail workers. Yet the fear of being deported dominates the discussion so deeply in AAPI communities that it is difficult to engender discussions on community activism these days. AGN has reached out repeatedly to even university level Asian-American Studies programs with nary a response. It is as if the formula for the Model Minority appears to be to “double-down” on the same-old, same-old, with the students caught in a system that rewards them for self-absorption.

But “The One Big Beautiful Bill” H.R. 1 also creates new work requirements and bureaucratic hurdles for people who depend on state subsidized Medicaid plans for very low-income and single mothers and partially disabled veterans. People with pre-existing health conditions and children with special needs may be unable to obtain critical medical supplies and medications. It limits abortion access for women who will have to cross state lines or travel as medical tourists to receive such operations, something that can be both prohibitive and costly.

While the GOP is cherry-picking which rural hospitals and nursing homes will be worth saving (to help secure mid-term election votes), hospitals and health professionals vex that without health insurance, they and their patients will be making tough decisions over who can be saved under what walk-in emergency conditions.

Here are a few testimonials shared by the Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (H.E.L.P.) Committee report, “‘I’m Terrified I’ll Die’: Americans Speak Out About Republican Health Care Cuts” after citizens learned that they may be pushed out of health care, often for pre-existing conditions, or face a drastic increase in health insurance costs and deductibles.

“In my home state of Vermont, up to 45,000 people are expected to lose health insurance and over 30,000 people who buy their own insurance are projected to see their premiums more than double. Vermont is not alone.” —- Bernie Sanders (I-Vt)

The white paper estimates that “unless we reverse course, health care premiums will double, on average, for over 20 million Americans. Further, the Congressional Budget Office has estimated that 15 million Americans will lose their health care as a result fo these horrific budget cuts.”

The situation compounds the economic hardship for those on the brink or one paycheck away from homelessness. People who rely on Medicaid, often tied through Social Security Disability to Medicare, may no longer receive payment or assistance from either or both programs if they do not file their paperwork on time or run into a verification issue with those respective offices. People are really describing their choices as between foregoing healthcare, groceries, or missing mortgage payments.

“We will not be able to eat consistently; this will cut more than 60% of our food budget for the month.” — Larissa (Illinois)

“I have an elderly grandmother on Medicaid and I’m a physician…I can’t stand seeing my community or family or neighbors getting squeezed on something that’s so essential. It is not American to only think of yourself and turn away when others so close are suffering or about to suffer needlessly.” — Jessica (Maryland)

Bear in mind that the Trump administration, thanks to DOGE (The Department of Government Efficiency) and in line with the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) led by Russ Vought, one of the prime authors of the Heritage Foundation’s Project 2025, has already laid off many government workers, and so the processing and response times at critical government social service offices, are slower than ever before. i.e. People are already dying from agency delays.

What is particularly troubling is that the 1 trillion dollars in cutbacks to government programs under H.R. 1 is specifically to pay for a massive wealth transfer from the middle-class to the super-rich just so they can receive more tax-breaks. While Jane Doe suffers due to lack of access to doctors and medical supplies, tough decisions must be made over which rural hospitals remain open and who will have to travel X-many hundred miles. Meanwhile community centers and clinics will be forced to reduce hours or even close

The Affordable Care Act and robust health insurance enrollments helped expand the number of public clinics open, especially those in the urban core where many underinsured and very low-income people of many colors are served. To aggravate matters, under the Trump regime, patients are even worried about ICE or National Guard perched outside the doorsteps.

Moderate-income Americans whose family members suffer pre-existing conditions are terrified about a lack of coverage:

“My husband and I own a small business in Texas. My husband and I are on the ACA. I have Lung Cancer. I will lose my coverage due to the increase as it already has high premiums. I will die without healthcare and so will many others.” — Bobbi (Texas)

“We cannot afford health insurance. My husband is insulin dependent with multiple health conditions. Things are going to go downhill very quickly for him.” — Michelle (Kentucky)

It is completely counterintuitive for President Trump to state that he earned a grade of “A++++” on the economy and revitalizing manufacturing and industry if in fact so many people are one, suffering layoffs and downsizing due to the new artificial intelligence-robotization technocracy; and two, not able to secure basic social safety net guarantees for food, healthcare, and housing assistance. With higher costs on imported goods, who is gaining from the increases in tariffs, the deployment of AI at the workplace, the reduction in hours for workers, and repeal of ACA subsidies?

Certainly not even his MAGA base, comprised of small business owners, can forego the ACA benefits they have grown used to:

“I am a small business owner and if my health care costs continue to rise, I will be forced to close my business and look for a job if I can find one.” —- Joe (Pennsylvania)

“I’m a self-employed person. Today, I make enough from my self-employment that I now longer qualify for any of that, and I’m proud of that! Medicaid made it possible for me and my family to survive and for me to work to get us out of poverty. The ACA is basically a miracle to me. If I were to lose the ACA, I would have to leave my good paying tax paying job. I would have to quit my dream job as an author to intentionally lower my income so we could qualify for Medicaid. The loss of the ACA would be devastating and would mean I actually have to intentionally work less. I’d have to tell my husband, “Stop looking for work. We can’t afford to lose our insurance.” It actually becomes a wise financial decision for us to leave the workforce. The ACA and those subsidies are there for people like me. They are one of the key pieces we need to make the American dream possible for low-income Americans like me.” — Elizabeth (New Mexico)

ACA with its subsidies are designed for people just like Elizabeth, Joe, and many young families. They fall into a “Medi-gap” category of making too much for Medicaid, while earning too little, especially if they have pre-existing health conditions, to pay the $3,000-$4000 per month costs for the gold or silver health care plan premiums. Now, they may not even be able to afford to pay for the bronze category plan especially if there are deductibles in excess of $10,000 dollars.

The HELP Committee has also published reports on the practical implications of the Trump-and-GOP-backed “Junk Health Care” insurance proposals. This is in complete contrast with the Medicare-for-All plans which Senator Bernie Sanders, along with Green Party USA, have long been proponents. Meanwhile the HELP Committee report, “‘I’m Terrified I’ll Die’: Americans Speak Out About Republican Health Care Cuts” is accessible from Senator Bernie Sanders website.

Every American should have a chance to read this report, because it is the U.S. taxpayers who, as usual, will be left footing the bill for many more emergency room visits. And at a time when ICE is deliberately sending more protesters and innocent bystanders to the hospital in what commentators call out as “Israelization of the West,” a phenomenon of embedding Special Forces and Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) operatives in the hopes of destabilizing communities and justifying intensification of martial law throughout the United States of America.

Resources

1) Senator Bernie Sanders website

NEWS: “I’m Terrified I’ll Die” — Americans Speak Out on Devastating Republican Health Care Cuts

https://www.help.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/im_terrified_ill_die_americans_speak_out_about_republican_health_care_cuts1.pdf

Human composition by Christine H Kroll, PE, MA