By

DonnaMarie Woodson

Across the country, including in North Carolina, Health Care is in crisis!

Since taking power, Donald Trump and Congressional Republicans have launched an all-out assault on our Health Care system. From slashing Medicaid in North Carolina and driving rural hospitals to close – to now ending Affordable Care Act Tax Credits, they’ve created a disaster for working families and why? For the biggest grift in American History!

I’ve been an Advocate for the Affordable Care Act since President Obama proposed this revolutionary piece of legislation. Making “Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness” a reality for the American people.

But, without the tax credits that make health care affordable, North Carolinians who buy insurance on their own will see their premium costs SKYROCKET! Beginning in 2026, Republicans have made sure that premiums in North Carolina will increase by an average of 149 Percent MORE EVERY SINGLE YEAR! This increase will exacerbate the uninsured rate and raise costs for hard-working North Carolinians at a time when too many are struggling to make ends meet.

This heinous scheme by the Republicans to gut the Affordable Care Act is personal for me. As a 10-year Survivor of both Colon and Breast Cancer, I’m blessed to be able to speak with organizations like Protect Our Care because of Grace and the Affordable Care Act – which saved my life!

During the 2008 recession my husband was laid off, and we lost our health Insurance. I put off my routine screenings because of the cost. So, when the ACA passed, we qualified and I signed us up. Without the ACA and the tax credits I don’t know we could have afforded the costs associated with my cancer treatments. Chemotherapy alone cost $8,000 per treatment which I had twice a month for 6 months. That’s $96,000!

Like me, I’m sure most hard working Americans don’t have that kind of money just lying around. Eliminating tax credits will gut the ACA and cost the lives of millions of Americans!

This cavalier attitude is Obscene and We the People cannot let this stand.

Works Cited

https://tax.thomsonreuters.com/news/estimated-impact-of-aca-premium-tax-credit-expiration/#:~:text=Enhanced%20Affordable%20Care%20Act%20premium,will%20end%20unless%20Congress%20intervenes.