Published in the Omaha World-Herald.

President Donald Trump and the Republican-controlled Congress did nothing to address the looming health care crisis, and now on Jan. 1 more than 110,000 Nebraskans who buy their health care on the ACA marketplace, also known as Obamacare, will see their health care premiums go up.

For some of our neighbors, Republicans’ choice to prioritize tax breaks for billionaires over funding for health care is literally life changing. Jennifer, a self-employed musician here in Omaha who buys her health insurance on the exchange and needs a double lung transplant, told me she’s terrified of living with crushing medical bills. She should be focused on recovering, not wondering how she’ll financially recover. Yet because of our broken politics, her and her husband’s premium is going from $690 to $2,000 a month next year.

Dec. 15 was the initial deadline for purchasing marketplace health insurance and, like Jennifer, most Nebraskans will see some sort of price increase. And while increases are far steeper this year, costs have been steadily rising for years. In 2014, the average deductible on the least expensive plan offered, known as a bronze plan, was $5,113. In 2026 it will be $7,476.

Health care costs are rising across the board because pharmaceutical drugs are getting even more expensive, tariffs are driving up the cost of medical equipment and supplies, and now as more people get priced out of health insurance — especially those who are younger and healthier — we are going to see health insurance costs rise even further.

The expiring ACA subsidies are just one piece of the crisis.

For example, nearly seven times as many Americans get health insurance through an employer as those who buy it on the marketplace. Those people are expected to see their premiums spike by up to 7 percent in 2026. That’s the largest jump in health care costs in 15 years, and is more than double the rate of inflation. When employers have to pay more for health insurance, it often comes at the expense of salaries.

All this comes a year before Medicaid cuts passed in Trump’s “Big Beautiful Bill” kick in on Jan. 1, 2027. These cuts will worsen the crisis and kick another 7,000+ people in the Omaha area off of insurance.

It’s clear that we need Congress to attack this issue from every angle, and as your next Congressman this will be my top priority on day one. I’ll fight to fund the ACA so that people have a chance to purchase health care at a cost they can afford. I’ll reverse the cuts to Medicaid and get tariffs under control. I’ll also hold massive pharmaceutical companies accountable when they price gouge you for your prescription and fight against corporate consolidation of our hospital systems.

The price of inaction — in people's lives and on people’s wallets — is incredibly high. We must elect a new Congress in 2026 that’s willing to stand up to Trump and his donor friends and actually deliver.