Rep. Rich McCormick, the Georgia Republican, warned Friday that Democrats are pressing to extend Affordable Care Act subsidies not to address healthcare issues but to gain a political advantage ahead of the 2026 midterm elections.
The congressman described the effort as “playing games with people’s lives” while ignoring much-needed healthcare reform.
Even if the subsidies—currently set to expire at year’s end—are extended, McCormick said Democrats are misleading the public about how widespread the impact would be.
“It’s only going to affect 7% of the population,” he stated. “Instead of their premiums going up by 18%, it will only go up by 14%.”
“Unfortunately, if [the Democrats] got exactly what they wanted, it’s still the wrong answer,” McCormick said. “It’s still not going to affect most Americans and the ones that it does, it’s not going to give them the answers that those people want.”
McCormick emphasized that healthcare costs will continue rising regardless of whether ACA subsidies are extended.
“They think this is going to be the exact same thing they had before—it’s not,” he said. “Premiums are up every single year. It’s the biggest inflationary cost to Americans, the most expensive thing they have in their lives.”
The Georgia representative argued that Democrats are seeking a one-sided outcome rather than genuine bipartisan compromise.
“If you’re going to make a compromise, it has to be a compromise,” McCormick said. “They’re trying to rule from the minority.”
According to McCormick, Democrats want to extend the subsidies without addressing broader structural problems in the healthcare system.
“They want to extend the premium tax credits without any other reform to healthcare whatsoever,” he stated.
The congressman accused Democrats of intentionally allowing the issue to fester because they believe voter frustration could help them politically.
“They think it’s going to be an advantage to them in the midterms,” McCormick said, adding that Democrats refuse to confront “a horrible system right now full of waste, fraud and abuse.”
When asked how the fight could affect Republicans heading into the midterms, McCormick warned that “it has the potential to be catastrophic.”
“That’s what worries me and that’s why the Democrats are actually using this,” he said. “They used the government shutdown to try to change the narrative, to make this about healthcare when, in reality, it wasn’t about healthcare.”
“This is all by design to cause a failure that they did and then blame it on us,” McCormick added. “They’re masters at it.”
