Turner

I became a widow at age 38 when my son was 7. Solo parenting is hard, but thanks to the Affordable Care Act I’ve been able to work part-time from home in a way that makes our lives work pretty well.

In January, my health insurance premiums will jump 79%, from $191 per month to $342.

For a lot of single mothers, that difference is their grocery budget for the month. This price hike is because of Republican inaction. Our representatives in Congress – Zach Nunn, Ashley Hinson, Mariannette Miller-Meeks, and Randy Feenstra – have known these increases were coming for months, but chose to do nothing to prevent them.

Even after the government shut down for 43 days over this issue, Republicans refused to sign onto an extension of funding for families like mine. The best they came up with was HR 6703: a half-baked plan that does nothing to help families like mine. This legislation was sponsored by Rep. Miller-Meeks and unanimously supported by Iowa’s other representatives in Congress. The bill has a lot to say about transparency for pharmacy benefit managers, and the false solution of association healthcare plans, but it does not address the massive spike in premiums that Marketplace customers are facing in a matter of days. Even worse, the Senate has no plans to take up this bill. In other words, the whole proposal has no chance of becoming law, and was all just for show.

Now, the House has adjourned for the year. So while families watch their healthcare costs go through the roof, Iowa’s representatives in Congress will be home, enjoying their Christmas recess. Their inaction on this issue is a stark contrast with earlier this summer, when they jumped at the chance to give billions of dollars in tax cuts to the rich, with no strings attached.

This choice tells you everything you need to know about their priorities: billionaires over families like mine.

Fortunately, they have the opportunity to do the right thing when they return to Washington in January. Right before Congress adjourned, four Republicans joined with all congressional Democrats to sign Discharge Petition 10, forcing a floor vote on a clean, three-year extension of ACA funding. Nunn, Miller-Meeks, Hinson, and Feenstra will have to vote yes or no on this proposal sometime in mid-January.

So, as we enter a new year, I ask our representatives in Congress to make a 2026 resolution: put families before billionaires, and vote in favor of extending ACA premium funding.

Families like mine are counting on them to do the right thing.

——-

Jenny Turner is a speech language pathologist who lives in West Des Moines. She is the board president of Iowa Citizens for Community Improvement and a member of the Fighting Oligarchy leadership team.