Trump’s health care plan for 2026: Pay even more, get even less. Unless you’re a billionaire.

Rising prices have chipped away at my family's budget all year — eggs, rent, gas, you name it. But none of those increases compare to what's hitting us on Jan. 1, when our health insurance premiums will nearly double.

I'm a small business owner, and like so many other small business owners I buy my family's health insurance through the Affordable Care Act. Buying health insurance coverage on the marketplace through the Affordable Care Act allowed me to leave a miserable corporate job that drove me to a nervous breakdown a few years ago.

But this year, when I logged in to enroll for 2026 coverage, the numbers hit hard. Our monthly premium is jumping from $969 to $1800, which means we'll pay over $20,000 next year, a significant increase and dramatic cut of our annual income. That's not counting out-of-pocket costs for doctor visits, prescriptions, or emergencies. This kind of premium spike isn't something our family can simply budget around, but we depend on this coverage to stay healthy.

And here's the thing: our skyrocketing premiums aren't a fluke. They're the direct consequence of a decision by President Donald Trump to rip away tax credits that over 21 million Americans like me count on to help us afford our health insurance and access the basic preventative care that we rely on to stay healthy and run a business. Because Trump and the GOP eliminated these tax credits, families who buy insurance on their own will see their premiums double or worse overnight.

Experts have warned for months that this will happen, so it's no surprise. Americans overwhelmingly want to keep these health care tax credits. Without them, millions will lose their health care and go uninsured — as many as one in four ACA marketplace enrollees, according to recent data.

This isn't just a political problem for Democrats or blue states. In fact, the majority of Americans who buy health insurance on their own live in GOP-represented congressional districts. Yet, when it came time to vote, Senate Republicans voted to rip away the tax credits that my family and so many Arizonans need while Democrats voted unanimously to keep them in place.

That vote wasn't an isolated lapse in judgment for Republicans. It's part of a broader pattern we've seen since January: helping billionaires and big corporations get richer while working families struggle just to stay afloat. So far, they've used their power in Washington to make the largest health care cuts in history, kicking millions off their coverage, putting hospitals and providers at risk, and driving up health care costs for the rest of us.

What real solutions are Republicans offering to bring down premium prices and stop more hospitals from shutting their doors as we head into 2026? None. And since Trump seems to think the affordability crisis he's created is a 'con job,' I doubt things are going to improve.

Instead, their only goal for the new year seems to be dismantling our health care system even further: more cuts, higher costs, and bigger payouts for billionaires and corporate donors.

The stakes for 2026 could not be higher. Families need stability, affordability, and a health care system that works for us — not a broken one that threatens to shove us into crippling medical debt at a moment's notice.

As families like mine start off 2026 struggling to figure out: what we can cut from our budget to afford these rate hikes, can we sustain our small business under these rate hikes, or do we just go uninsured and risk the health and wellbeing for our family? It's time for Republicans to ring in the New Year with a resolution to end their destructive war on working people's health care and give us back the affordable health care we need and deserve.

Alison Farrell is a graphic designer, artist, mental health advocate and working mom.

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