Time to Make Health Insurance Reform the Centerpiece of 2026 GOP Agenda

Our health insurance system in this country is a massive failure. It costs consumers and taxpayers too much. It delivers too little in terms of healthcare coverage. It is rife with waste, fraud and abuse. The American people need and deserve better.

Nothing exemplifies the proverbial swamp in Washington, D.C., more than this deplorable status quo. Democrats pull in billions of dollars in campaign contributions from insurers. In turn, Senate and House Democrats push Congress to keep the Obamacare subsidies flowing to the big insurance companies while the companies inevitably increase American taxpayer premiums in order to double down on their profit margins. This mutual back-scratching with their Democratic supporters on Capitol Hill has enabled the health insurance industry to pull in more than $371 billion in profits since Congress enacted Obamacare. 

It doesn’t have to be this way. We have seen firsthand how President Trump has brought down healthcare costs by dealing directly with health industry leaders in the Oval Office. He has prioritized healthcare affordability while Democrats continue to advocate for an increasingly unaffordable system that benefits mega-corporations instead of struggling American households.

One of the major priorities for Congress in 2026 must be insurance reform. The current system is unsustainable, leaving too many people sicker and financially poorer and continuing to leave trillions in available savings hidden in an opaque system of wasteful business practices and government spending. The average Obamacare premium for a family is projected to exceed $27,000 in 2026. Congressional Democrats and the insurance industry have essentially created a political extortion racket – jack premiums up to the point where average Americans can’t afford them without federal subsidies, leaving lawmakers no choice but to give the insurers billions more. 

And what are consumers getting for this money? A Kaiser Family Foundation survey found that nearly six of every 10 health insurance enrollees have reported problems with their coverage – claim denials, prior authorization delays and inadequate networks that make it difficult to find a provider. One report found that United Healthcare, the nation’s largest insurer, denies one of every three claims from its premium-paying customers. 

Is it any wonder that the big insurers are enjoying enormous profits? They are raising premiums, raking in taxpayer subsidies and doing their utmost to avoid paying for care – and congressional Democrats are helping them keep this rancid scam in place. 

And then there is the fraud and abuse problem that continues going unchecked. The Government Accountability Office (GAO) created 24 fictitious applications for subsidized healthcare coverage through Obamacare. All but one of those fake applications was accepted. How many nonexistent patients are generating subsidies, paid for by the American taxpayer?

Enough is enough. History tells us that midterm elections are always challenging for the party in power. If Republicans want to make a case that they are advocates for healthcare affordability and bringing much-needed relief to consumers and taxpayers, they should make health insurance reform the centerpiece of their 2026 agenda. The GOP needs to step up and step in between the insurance giants and the Democratic Party, disrupting an unholy alliance that has generated massive profits, runaway federal spending and inferior healthcare coverage. 

President Trump has shown this can be done. Congress needs to follow his lead.