Health Care Costs Set to Soar as Republican Policies Clash with Open Enrollment

Rep. Kiggans’ Reckless Support of Tariffs and Republican Tax Law, Could Result in Upwards of 300,000 Virginians Losing Health Care 

Virginia Beach, VA – This week, we learned that yet another sector being impacted by Republicans’ tariffs is health care, and will hit consumers’ pockets with an increase to their insurance premiums. Working families can anticipate seeing a 15% increase across the board, all the while, billionaires will get richer.

“Virginia families are already reeling from the cuts to Medicaid, and now those on Medicaid and private insurance can anticipate a huge rise in their health care costs,” said Emily Yeatts, Affordable Virginia Campaigns Director. “Health care isn’t usually something we think about as being impacted by tariffs, but medical supplies are imported too. When we said President Trump’s tariffs would affect everything, it’s proving to mean everything, and Republicans in Congress don’t seem to be in a hurry to do anything about it. Rep. Jen Kiggans supported giving Trump the ability to impose tariffs however he likes, without a check by Congress, then voted in favor of cutting Medicaid. It’s unclear how many people will have to suffer for her to stop giving billionaires tax cuts, but it’s somewhere north of the 300,000 Virginians set to lose their health care.”

This news comes on the heels of the Trump administration quietly announcing that the open-enrollment period for the health care marketplace in 2026 will also be shorter than in years past. Families will start receiving notifications of the rise in their premiums as early as September.