Not So Sweet 16: On 16th Anniversary of the ACA, Michigan Families Demand Barrett, Huizenga, and James Stop Raising Health Care Costs
On the 16th anniversary of the Affordable Care Act, Michigan Families for Fair Care hosted a virtual press conference with For Our Future Michigan featuring residents from Michigan’s 7th and 10th Congressional Districts who shared firsthand how health care policies backed by Congressmen Tom Barrett, Bill Huizenga, and John James have made coverage more expensive and harder to access. Constituents, health care workers, and community members gathered to make clear that the damage done to Michigan families is real and that the time for our congressmen to act is now, before more lives are lost to needless greed.
The virtual press conference comes as health care tax credits, which helped thousands of Michigan families afford coverage, have already expired with Republicans in Congress voting to reject their extension, and as the Republican Tax Law’s Medicaid cuts continue to take shape. Michigan families are feeling the pressure of a health care system that has gotten significantly more expensive since their representatives chose billionaire tax breaks over protecting coverage for working people.
“Health care is broken and I don’t think people understand the extent of that. When I was bargaining with Henry Ford and McLaren Health Care, we were fighting for ratios so that nurses don’t have so many patients that they can’t care for them. They’ve already mentioned that this is going to be an issue. said Dina Carlyle, president of OPEIU Local 40. “Now, [patients] are going to stay home [getting] sicker and sicker because they can’t afford to pay for [health care]”
“Personally, in 2026, I have already blown through my Healthcare Spending Account. We are in month three of 2026. The cost of prescriptions have gone up in addition to gas and groceries. And I find myself now, even as a nurse, having to schedule out my health care. All of my things are being scheduled around how I can pay for it and that is not how I have had to address my health in the past,” said Ashley, a Dewitt nurse and Rep. Tom Barrett constituent. “ I am sounding the alarm because it all comes back to votes. Cuts in the [Republican Tax Law] and the failure to extend those premium tax credits.”
“I just want to underscore that, in particular, between 2021 and 2025, before enhanced premium tax credit benefits expired, we saw that those enhancements made a measurable difference. More people qualified, monthly premiums dropped, and enrollment in Michigan grew. Statewide, we went from roughly 400,000 marketplace enrollees to 530,000 at its peak in 2025,” said Amber Bellazaire, senior policy analyst with the Michigan League for Public Policy. “Those enhancements have now expired and Michigan families are already feeling it. In districts like [MI-04] and [MI-10] where 9 in 10 enrollees depend on subsidies to afford coverage the loss of that assistance is not just a policy abstraction it is a real coverage cliff.”
Since Barrett, Huizenga, and James voted for the Republican Tax Law, families across Michigan have been left to deal with the consequences: premiums that have more than doubled for some of the tens of thousands of Michigan families who rely on ACA marketplace coverage, and billions in Medicaid cuts that threaten coverage for the people who need it most. Over 25,000 Michigan residents have already dropped their ACA coverage this year, compared to last year. For residents managing chronic conditions, like veterans, those working without employer-sponsored insurance, or people caring for family members who depend on Medicaid, these aren’t abstract policy debates; they're daily choices between paying for health care and covering other basic needs.
