U.S. Rep. Maxwell Frost urges Florida Republicans to support Democratic push for health care subsidies
At a press conference held in Central Florida, Orlando Democrat U.S. Representative Maxwell Frost called on Florida Republicans to join Democrats in demanding the continuation of health care subsidies amid steep premium increases impacting constituents.
Frost highlighted that Senate Republicans appear to be allowing a federal government shutdown to persist as leverage to pressure Democrats into backing a budget that does not extend Affordable Care Act (ACA) subsidies. He warned that this stance ultimately harms the very constituents Republicans represent.
“I think about three specific Republicans in South Florida. South Florida loves the Affordable Care Act,” Frost said, referencing data from the Kaiser Family Foundation. The statistics show Florida has the highest concentration of Insurance Marketplace users in the country, with the four congressional districts in Miami-Dade County ranking as the nationwide leaders in ACA beneficiaries. Notably, three of these districts are represented by Republican members of Congress.
“Who do we got down there?” Frost asked, naming U.S. Reps. María Elvira Salazar, Mario Díaz-Balart, and Carlos Giménez. “So many of their constituents are on the Affordable Care Act. Where is their voice on this? Their constituents are the ones that are going to suffer, but they’re more scared of the President than they are of their own people.”
Mario Díaz-Balart, a Republican from Hialeah, represents the district with approximately 300,000 ACA enrollees—the highest number nationwide. Earlier this month, he told Florida Politics he would be open to discussions about extending subsidies, but only after Senate Democrats agree to reopen the government.
Carlos Giménez, a Miami-Dade Democrat, expressed his support for a one-year extension of the subsidies. He co-signed a letter to Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson urging that a vote on the extension be prioritized as the first order of business once the shutdown ends.
Salazar has yet to publicly state her position on extending subsidies but has consistently criticized Democrats for the government shutdown.
Frost placed significant responsibility for the threat to health care subsidies on former President Donald Trump. “What’s the President doing while families are receiving these letters and logging into their ACA portals to see how much more they will pay for health insurance?” Frost questioned. “He’s bulldozing the White House grounds to build a $300 million ballroom for his billionaire friends. He’s partying at Mar-a-Lago, golfing, traveling across the country and abroad, instead of staying in Washington, D.C., to work on reopening the government and saving health care.”
Joining Frost at the event were state Sen. Carlos Guillermo Smith, an Orlando Democrat, and Orange County Commissioner Maribel Gomez Cordero. Both emphasized that health care costs are also surging sharply in Central Florida.
“Millions of working families are facing skyrocketing health care costs,” said Smith. “They are confronting cuts to Medicaid and the very real threat of losing affordable health coverage altogether.”
The ongoing debate over ACA subsidies persists as families brace for potential premium increases and a prolonged federal shutdown, underlining the urgent need for bipartisan solutions to protect access to affordable health care in Florida.
https://floridapolitics.com/archives/763635-maxwell-frost-slams-mario-diaz-balart-carlos-gimenez-maria-elvira-salazar-for-silence-on-health-care-premiums/
