MTG Loves ACA Subsidies (Now That Her Kids Are Affected)
It's a vote, we'll take it.
The biggest reason, by far, for the government shutdown, is that Democrats want to keep the ACA (Obamacare) subsidies that help millions of Americans afford health care and Republicans are totally fine with letting them expire, which will more than double the cost of their premiums, on average. (Some couples’ premiums are expected to rise by more than $22,000 per year.) Republicans cannot keep the government open without Democratic votes, but are disinclined to negotiate, on this or any other matter.
Why, here’s the Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson explaining … well.
“Let me look right into the camera and tell you very clearly: Republicans are the ones concerned about healthcare. Republicans are the party working around the clock everyday to fix healthcare. This is not talking points for us: We’ve done it.”
Have they though? We feel like we would remember that!
As it turns out, there’s one Republican out there who knows just what a cheap trick this is — because we’ve got, of all people, Marjorie Taylor Greene on our side. Thanks to the fact that her own adult children are among the 20 million Americans who will see their insurance premiums more than double (on average) if the subsidies end, she’s getting dangerously, dangerously close to understanding that her party is not on the side of Americans who need healthcare.
I know. I know. But you know what? I’ll take it. If it means that there is more of a possibility of people’s insurance premiums not doubling (or more)? I’ll take it. To quote the great Oleta Adams, “I don’t care how you get here, get here if you can.”
Marge published this great revelation to the site formerly known as Twitter on Monday.
I was not in Congress when all this Obamacare, “Affordable Care Act” bullshit started. I got here in 2021. As a matter of fact, the ACA made health insurance UNAFFORDABLE for my family after it was passed, with skyrocketing premiums higher than our house payment.
Let’s just say as nicely as possible, I’m not a fan.
It’s true, she wasn’t there, which is why she probably isn’t aware that Republican attempts to undermine the ACA have been a major driving factor of those skyrocketing premiums. Also, her home state of Georgia refused the full Medicaid expansion, which would have covered an estimated 671,000 Georgians.
But I’m going to go against everyone on this issue because when the tax credits expire this year my own adult children’s insurance premiums for 2026 are going to DOUBLE, along with all the wonderful families and hard-working people in my district.
Was she unable to see how this would hurt everyday Americans before learning it would hurt her own children? Probably not! So let’s all take a moment to thank the face-eating leopards for all of their hard work here.
No I’m not towing the party line on this, or playing loyalty games. I’m a Republican and won’t vote for illegals to have any tax payer funded healthcare or benefits.
I’m AMERICA ONLY!!!
I’m carving my own lane.
And I’m absolutely disgusted that health insurance premiums will DOUBLE if the tax credits expire this year
Again, despite Republicans’ shameful and constant lies on the subject, no federal tax dollars are going towards providing health insurance for undocumented immigrants, as that is against the law.
LIKE THIS!
But yes, she should be disgusted. Because it’s disgusting.
Also, I think health insurance and all insurance is a scam, just be clear!
Also correct! Granted, she’s probably more of an “Everyone should just pay for things on an individual basis, because it has not occurred to me how extremely expensive that would be” type than someone on the cusp of realizing that it’s far more logistically sound and inexpensive to just have universal healthcare for everyone — but it’s at least correct.
Health insurance is a scam. We are actually paying about a trillion per year on administrative billing alone, because there are hundreds of different insurance companies that all have different plans for different consumers. We are paying God knows how much so that they can pay people to figure out how to deny us coverage. It is a stupid, stupid system.
Not a single Republican in leadership talked to us about this or has given us a plan to help Americans deal with their health insurance premiums DOUBLING!!!
Facts! And that is because they do not care to. They do not care that people’s premiums are going up. They are fine with that.
It is absolutely shameful, disgusting, and traitorous, that our laws and policies screw the American people so much that the government is shut down right now fighting over basic issues like this.
It really is, Marge, it really is.
I will give Marjorie Taylor Green this: I do think she has more of a tendency towards independent thought than some other Republicans — not so much by virtue of being especially swift or principled, but because she simply has poor impulse control and does not fully grasp the foundational principles of the political party with which she is affiliated. Usually this results in her saying bizarre things about Jewish space lasers and what have you, but it also sometimes results in her coming dangerously close to “getting” certain things. Like when she realized, because of her January 6 people, the horrors of inhumane prison conditions. Did she grasp that they are horrific for everyone and that this is a bad thing that we should work to change? She did not! But she was this close.
AND LIKE SO!
Civil Rights Hero Nancy Mace Just Wants Jan. 6 Suspects Treated With A Little Compassion, You Know?
Greene’s mentions are filled with people expressing their feelings of deep betrayal and deep misunderstanding of how health insurance works.
It’s honestly scary to think that there are people out there less logical and with less human compassion than Marjorie Taylor Greene.
The fact is, for all Republicans talk about “America First!” — they don’t really want to do jack shit to help Americans who are struggling (other than very rich people who are “struggling,” by helping them with tax cuts). They’ve created this terror over “What if people aren’t motivated to work hard?!?” that allows them to get away with giving rich people all the tax cuts they ever dreamed of. We could have nice things for our country! We could have health care, we could have subsidized child care, we could have a lot of things that would make our lives nicer and less horrifically stressful. But we can’t, because they don’t want it.
Perhaps if more relatives of congressional Republicans could let them know that they would be among those affected by these subsidies expiring, we could change enough minds to ensure that they are not allowed to expire. That would be nice! Or hey! If you happen to have a Republican congressperson or senator, consider giving them a call and telling them just how paying double (or more!) for your insurance might affect you (and your votes!), because that could be helpful as well.
I mean, probably not, but a girl can dream.
PREVIOUSLY ON WONKETTE!
I’ll just add this...Elizabeth Warren is not having it:
Elizabeth Warren
@warren.senate.gov
Guess how many times Republicans have tried to negotiate with Democrats to save health care? None. Zero. Not once.
Republicans would rather shut down the government than lower health care costs.
https://bsky.app/profile/warren.senate.gov/post/3m2jrlqwmyk2v
True fact: Health insurers pay more on their armies of actuaries, billing staff and ways to deny claims than they do on payments to health providers
Have you even seen one of those phone book (heh, IYKYK kids) size actuarial reports where they list *every single procedure* possibly done and associated risk and maximum payments for it? That's what the actuaries are for.