On November 12, Congressman Salud Carbajal announced he voted NO on a bill to reopen the federal government, claiming it “will force millions of families to choose between higher health insurance costs or no coverage at all.” He then called on Republicans to “undo the damage” and pass a tax-credit extension for the Affordable Care Act (ACA).
As usual, the political soundbite leaves out the truth: Democrats created this problem on their own, and both parties have used Americans as political pawns ever since.
The Affordable Care Act was passed in 2010 by Democrats alone, without a single Republican vote, when they controlled both Congress and the White House. The same went for the expanded subsidies enacted during COVID and later extended through December 31, 2025. Those subsidies are now expiring because the party that wrote them chose a temporary timeline when it had the power to make them permanent. Additionally, since they do not expire until the end of the calendar year, no one would have been impacted by keeping the government open while they worked on the appropriations.
The ACA has never lived up to its promise of “affordable” healthcare. Premiums spiked nationwide for over a decade, with middle-class families who don’t qualify for subsidies having shouldered the steepest increases. The subsidies Congressmember Carbajal demands are not a fix. They funnel federal tax dollars directly into insurance companies to conceal how unaffordable the underlying product has become. While you have been getting gouged on premiums, UnitedHealth’s share price has increased 1,100 percent since the ACA.
Republicans, for their part, spent years railing against the ACA without producing a coherent alternative: endless repeal votes, no serious replacement, and no targeted solutions for improvement.
Washington has failed on healthcare for 15 years, and families on the Central Coast are paying some of the highest premiums in the country.
Congressmember Carbajal spent nearly every day posting partisan rhetoric about “the Republican shutdown,” even though Senate Democrats, in front of all of America on national news, filibustered the clean continuing resolution (CR) to temporarily keep Biden’s 2024 budget levels funded — 14 times. They used Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) recipients as political leverage, intentionally hurting families to score political points. Then, immediately after the November special elections gains, they agreed to the CR without any subsidy agreements — approving the same deal that was on the table before the government shutdown!
None of this political theater makes healthcare more affordable for the Central Coast.
Democrats, your Obamacare baby is ugly — and Republicans, you’ve offered nothing better.
Republicans will likely agree to extending ACA subsidies in December as their districts are heavily impacted. But long-term reforms are needed to lower costs and improve healthcare, which will require working across the aisle on bipartisan legislation.
There are real solutions that could make a meaningful difference:
• Price transparency
• Expanded health savings accounts
• Association-style buying groups
• Targeted reforms to insurance mandates
• Stronger competition enforcement
Healthcare is complicated. There is no simple solution to skyrocketing premiums. Until our representatives start acting like problem-solvers rather than partisan political gain-seekers, the crisis will continue. Families here on the Central Coast deserve better. Congressmember Carbajal is in his fifth term in Congress; it’s long past time to do more legislation than dedicating post offices.
Bob Smith, Commander, U.S. Navy, Retired, is a candidate for the 24th Congressional District.
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