The political theater surrounding the Affordable Care Act—better known as Obamacare—has entered another act, and this time, Democrats are trying desperately to rewrite the script. With premium subsidies expiring and the ugly consequences of their COVID-era expansion clawing their way back into the national spotlight, Democrats are deflecting blame faster than a hot potato. But the facts, and the people affected, aren’t playing along.
Let’s remember: Obamacare was passed without a single Republican vote. It was billed as the solution to America’s healthcare woes. What it delivered was a bloated bureaucracy, skyrocketing deductibles, narrower provider networks, and a system that often penalized the very people it was meant to help.
The latest twist? Democrats added temporary subsidies during the pandemic that made premiums seem artificially low, and now those subsidies are expiring. That looming cliff is already triggering sticker shock and renewed criticism.
Democrats are in a complete state of denial about the damage done by Obamacare:
Senator Blumenthal: “I don’t know of anyone who has been harmed by Obamacare.”
Huh? What about…
• Disabled children stuck on home healthcare waiting lists, crowded out by able-bodied adults.
•… pic.twitter.com/z1Mn9W8W83— Senator Ron Johnson (@SenRonJohnson) November 7, 2025
Instead of owning the mess they made, Democratic leaders are pivoting to the usual scapegoat—Republicans. But Senator Ron Johnson (R-WI) isn’t letting them get away with it. In a fiery exchange with Senator Dick Blumenthal (D-CT), who claimed he didn’t “know anyone who has been harmed by Obamacare,” Johnson methodically laid out examples that dismantle that claim with precision.
He pointed to disabled children pushed down Medicaid waiting lists because able-bodied adults—many newly covered under Medicaid expansion—are clogging the system. He cited employees dumped into expensive exchanges after their companies ditched group plans.
Even the Democrats’ own witness during the hearing, Ms. Verstegen, testified to the pain: forced into the exchanges, a $12,000 annual premium, a $14,000 deductible, and finally, an $18,000 home equity loan just to survive the costs Obamacare didn’t cover.
Johnson didn’t stop there. He referenced a Wall Street Journal op-ed by a father whose severely autistic son had been stuck on a decade-long waiting list for home care—blocked by expansion priorities that deprioritize the most vulnerable in favor of able-bodied adults with no children.
The irony is impossible to miss. Democrats engineered this system, championed every flawed provision, and extended it under the pretense of pandemic necessity. Now, they refuse to acknowledge its failures while families take on second mortgages to afford medical treatment.
As Johnson said plainly, “There are a lot of victims of Obamacare.” The structure is broken. Slapping another hundred billion dollars in subsidies on top of it is not reform—it’s denial.
