Should Rogers, Republicans Et Al Be Blamed For Exploding Health Insurance Premiums?

(Source: MIRS.news, Published 10/30/2025) Republican members of Congress and supporters of President Donald Trump, like U.S. Senate candidate Mike Rogers, are to blame for the pending double-digit increases in health insurance premiums because the Republican majority in Washington D.C. has neglected the rising issue of uncompensated care, Michigan Democratic Party Chair Curtis Hertel Jr. said Thursday.

The Michigan Association of Health Plans (MAHP) is reporting health care premiums in the individual market are going up an average of 17 percent over last year, small business plans 11 percent and large business plans 9 percent.

Meanwhile, Hertel said in a press call Thursday that members of Congress – like U.S. Rep. Tom Barrett (R-Charlotte), U.S. Rep. John James (R-Shelby Township) and U.S. Rep. Bill Huizenga (R-Zeeland) – are responsible for passing the Trump's One Big Beautiful Bill, which ended the Affordable Healthcare Act (ACA) subsidies that were put in place during COVID.

“When parents have to choose between paying for health insurance and putting food on the table, they'll know who forced that choice,” Hertel said. "The answer is Mike Rogers, John James, Tom Barrett and Michigan Republicans who aren't listening to Michigan families.

Entrepreneur Jodie Schanhais told reporters that her health care costs are going from $53 a month to $950 a month.

“This is like paying a mortgage. I will not be able to afford health care," she said. She is likely going to need hip replacement surgery and, without insurance, that's not possible. “I won't die from this. I just won't be able to walk.”

Also on Thursday’s press call was U.S. Rep. Debbie Dingell (D-Dearborn), who fingered U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson for refusing to hold session for five weeks, essentially stretching out the government shutdown and refusing to negotiate to continue the ACA subsidies.

“A woman who has a pre-existing medical condition told me the other day she simply can't afford her insurance," Dingell said. "She is going to go without it next year, and she said to me, 'I hope I don't die.'"

Asked if it was fair to tie the hefty health insurance premiums to the Republicans, Small Business Association of Michigan CEO Brian Calley demurred.

“It's unfortunate for anybody to try to tie this, politically, to a party,” he said. “Both sides of the political spectrum have had control of different levels of government over time, and you've seen a lot of increase in costs through it all.”

It's not a mystery what is driving up costs, he said. Health care is an expensive service. Costs are rising above the rate of inflation. Utilization has gone up and there's only one outcome: insurance costs will rise.

MAHP Executive Director Dominick Pallone said he sees it, too.

“People are sicker and the cost of providing that care has gone up, so they are using more of it,” he said.

MIRS reached out to Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan for their response to Hertel's assessment that the upcoming steep increase in health plans is due to misplaced priorities in Congress and the President. They provided the following analysis:

"Affordable health insurance is the key to health care access and personal well-being. While the continuation of federal health care subsidies is an important part of containing the overall cost of individual health plans offered on the Marketplace, there are several upstream drivers behind premium increases including the prices charged by hospitals and doctors, the skyrocketing costs of prescription drugs and continually evolving technology, among other factors.

“Health care affordability is a major concern that is the responsibility of all parties to address, and our shared focus should be on how to collaborate and partner together to ensure our populations have access to high-quality health care at a price they can afford.”

As for the hospitals, they're seeing “a relatively unhealthy population” showing up with “inadequate health insurance.”

Since COVID, hospitals have been forced to hire expensive, contract nurses from the private sector to meet demand, spurring an “explosion” of staffing costs, said Brian Peters, CEO of the Michigan Health and Hospital Association (MHA). Hospitals are also eating the costs of specialty physicians to keep their expertise around for when it's needed.

Medical liability costs are going up. Fending off cyber crime has become expensive as cyber criminals attempt to steal patients' financial information. Hospital buildings are aging. Refurbishing space for new hospital rooms is needed in buildings that are 60 or 70 years old, he said.

The cost of advanced equipment isn't cheap, especially now with machines made with parts from countries now facing tariffs. And there's the cost of pharmaceuticals.

In short, to hang hospitals for the reason health insurance costs are going sky-high “is not accurate, and it's not fair.”

Going back to Calley, MIRS asked if it was at least fair to blame Republicans for not extending the ACA subsidies. Calley noted the subsidies were created during the COVID pandemic to ease the burden on Americans when health care was everyone's focus.

If anyone wants to make these subsidies a permanent feature in the nation's health care system, that's a discussion worth having on how to afford that long term, Calley said, but it has to be done in its own space and time.

A driving argument for the adoption of the ACA was that by opening up more insurance to more people, uncompensated care would go down. Health care costs would drop.

“It really hasn't turned out that way,” Calley said. "It didn't reduce costs. I would rather see people working on solutions than pointing fingers.