Health care is the way for Democrats to win

Anahita Dua, Tribune News Service

When someone is sick in this country, they don’t ask for a politician. They ask for a doctor, a nurse, or a therapist — a front line health care worker. They look for someone they trust. Right now, our country’s health care system is sick. Families are anxious about their finances. Many are being forced to decide whether they can afford insurance this year. Seniors are skipping medications because of the cost. Rural hospitals are closing. Women are watching their reproductive rights disappear depending on what state they live in. And millions of Americans are seeing their health insurance premiums spike because Congress failed to extend the enhanced Affordable Care Act tax credits. As a surgeon, I see every day what happens when policies and politicians fail patients. When people are in pain, they don’t want talking points. They want solutions. And they want leaders who understand what it means to sit with someone who is scared, hurting and out of options.

That is why health care is more than just another campaign issue. It is the clearest path through which the Democrats can win back control of Congress in 2026. Last fall, the Congressional Budget Office estimated that the expiration of the Affordable Care Act subsidies at the end of 2025 would leave millions more Americans without health care coverage and force many families to pay thousands more each year just to keep their current coverage.

Estimates from KFF (formerly known as the Kaiser Family Foundation) predicted that marketplace premiums under the Affordable Care Act could rise by more than 75% for many enrollees due to these lost credits. Employer-based health insurance is no refuge either. The average annual premium for family coverage is now close to $27,000, with workers paying a growing share out of their pockets.

But the lived reality behind those numbers is what Americans feel every day. It is the parent choosing between asthma medication and groceries. The small business owner who can’t afford to offer insurance coverage anymore. The woman in a red state driving hours for basic reproductive care. The cancer patients who now must drive two hours for chemotherapy because their local hospital has closed.

In short, President Donald Trump’s so-called “One Big Beautiful Bill” is not beautiful to the millions of Americans who are now either facing higher health care costs or in some cases losing coverage. The result is that health care costs now rank among voters’ top concerns in battleground districts from Arizona to Pennsylvania. This is why Democrats should be focusing their attention on this issue, with support from groups such as mine, Healthcare for Action.

In Arizona, Dr. Amish Shah is running for the U.S. House of Representatives on a platform grounded in what he has seen as a physician: families priced out of care, seniors rationing medication, and communities desperate for stable access to doctors and hospitals.

In Nebraska, House candidate Denise Powell is bringing her health care experience and deep community roots into a battleground race where access to care, rural hospital closures and maternal health are front-and-center issues. We have seen this strategy work. We proudly supported Lauren Underwood in Illinois and Maxine Dexter in Oregon, both health care professionals who are now members of Congress. The voters didn’t just elect Democrats, they elected nurses and doctors who understood their lives.

Health care is not only something that happens in medical settings. It shapes how people work, whether they start businesses, where they live, how long they live and how secure they feel. The economy, job creation, transportation, housing, climate and public safety all intersect with health.

If Democrats want to win in 2026, they must double down on health care and focus on the root of our country’s illness: the steady gutting of our health care system by Trump, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and MAGA Republicans.