Rep. Frank Pallone (D-N.J.), the top Democrat on the House Energy and Commerce Committee, said Saturday that Republican funding cuts are forcing millions of Americans to skip necessary medical visits. He pointed to higher premiums, higher deductibles and rising costs. Pallone led the opposition to the Republican health legislation in committee.
Pallone’s full post, published at 11:32 a.m. on Oct. 24, 2026, read:
People should be able to prioritize their health, but Republican funding cuts are forcing millions to skip necessary visits.
Between higher premiums, higher deductibles, and rising costs, it’s becoming harder and harder to get by in Trump’s America.
The post responds to a Washington Post article published Oct. 23 under the headline “Rising health care costs are pushing people to forgo medicine and doctor visits.” The article draws on KFF Health News reporting from more than 130 people struggling to afford premiums, co-payments, prescriptions and medical bills.
The article describes people cutting back on care. Carmilla Collins, 52, of Omaha, had her wages garnished over medical debt and put off thyroid surgery for four months. Lynn Ludaway, 40, of Illinois, forgoes dental and mental health care because of costs. Melody Stephens, 55, of Arkansas, said she stopped taking a GLP-1 drug and a nerve-pain medication because of the cost.
The article covers each element of Pallone’s post. Insurers expect to raise ACA marketplace premiums by 15 percent next year, the second straight double-digit increase, and employer health costs are expected to rise 9.5 percent. The administration has been expanding access to plans with higher deductibles and lower premiums that push more costs to patients who need care.
The article also reports that the GOP-led Congress declined to extend pandemic-era ACA subsidies and cut billions from other federal health programs. It says Republicans argued government insurance programs are rife with fraud and waste. It attributes rising costs to several factors, including hospital consolidation, expensive new therapies, inflation, tariffs and the structure of the U.S. payment system.
Pallone’s record on Republican health care cuts
Pallone has been the Democrats’ lead voice on the Energy and Commerce side of the legislation. He led the opposition during a 26-hour committee markup of the Republican bill, and his office said he helped write the Affordable Care Act.
At the time, Pallone cited a nonpartisan CBO analysis finding that the committee bill’s health provisions would cut at least $715 billion and leave at least 8.6 million more Americans uninsured through cuts to Medicaid and the ACA. At the markup, he said Republicans were taking health care away from at least 13.7 million Americans and argued the bill would also bar people who lose Medicaid from ACA marketplace coverage.
After the law was enacted, he continued the argument at home. On July 30, 2025, he joined seniors in Piscataway to condemn what he called the “Big Ugly Bill,” saying it cuts more than $1 trillion from Medicare, Medicaid and the ACA and would cost 15 million Americans their coverage. He said more than 350,000 New Jerseyans would lose Medicaid.
On the ACA premium credits specifically, Pallone said at a Jan. 8 subcommittee hearing that premiums were rising by two, three and even four times for 24 million Americans and urged Republicans to support a discharge petition. In November 2025 he also joined Protect Our Care in calling on Republicans to restore the ACA tax credits, end Medicaid cuts and lower prescription drug prices.
At a later hearing, Pallone said Republicans were holding affordability hearings to appear concerned while declining to unwind the cuts or extend the enhanced ACA tax credits.
Republican leaders have rejected that framing. Senate Majority Leader John Thune said in December that a simple extension of the credits would disguise the real impact of rising ACA costs. The Post article reports that the GOP says its tax and spending cuts are meant to eliminate pervasive fraud in government health programs.