Press Release: ICYMI: Gov. Evers Slams President Trump, Congressional Republicans for Kicking Thousands of Wisconsinites Off Their Healthcare Coverage due to Sky-High Costs

State of Wisconsin sent this bulletin at 08/18/2026 12:53 PM CDT
Office of Governor Tony Evers
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: August 18, 2026
Contact: GovPress@wisconsin.gov 
 
ICYMI: Gov. Evers Slams President Trump, Congressional Republicans for Kicking Thousands of Wisconsinites Off Their Healthcare Coverage due to Sky-High Costs
Report shows Affordable Care Act enrollment drops by 45,000 in Wisconsin after Congressional Republicans refused to extend tax credits that made healthcare coverage more affordable in order to give tax cuts to millionaires and billionaires
MADISON — Gov. Tony Evers today slammed President Donald J. Trump and Republicans in Congress, including Republican members of Wisconsin’s Congressional delegation, after a new report shows Affordable Care Act (ACA) enrollment dropped by 45,000 after Republicans allowed ACA tax credits to expire, causing healthcare coverage costs to skyrocket in Wisconsin and across America—and all so Republicans could pay for tax cuts for millionaires and billionaires.

Members of Wisconsin’s Congressional delegation who refused to extend the ACA enhanced premium tax credits that caused healthcare coverage costs to skyrocket by hundreds or even thousands of dollars for Wisconsinites in order to pay for tax cuts for millionaires and billionaires include:
  • U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wisconsin); 
  • U.S. Rep. Bryan Steil (WI-01); 
  • U.S. Rep. Derrick Van Orden (WI-03); 
  • U.S. Rep. Scott Fitzgerald (WI-05); 
  • U.S. Rep. Glenn Grothman (WI-06); 
  • U.S. Rep. Tom Tiffany (WI-07); and 
  • U.S. Rep. Tony Wied (WI-08). 
Gov. Evers and the Evers Administration have spent years working hard to secure recent back-to-back record-breaking years of enrollment in the ACA in Wisconsin. However, a new report recently found that enrollment fell in Wisconsin by 16 percent in 2026—and dropped nationwide in every state but New Mexico—after Republicans in Congress and President Trump refused to extend tax credits that made healthcare coverage more affordable for Wisconsinites and millions of Americans in order to give tax cuts to millionaires and billionaires. Congressional Republicans’ refusal to extend the tax credits caused healthcare coverage costs to skyrocket, pricing families in Wisconsin and across the country out of having coverage at all. Under estimates released by the Wisconsin Office of the Commissioner of Insurance last year, premiums for many were expected to more than double, with some seniors seeing increases of over $30,000 per year. The number of people who will be kicked off their health insurance is expected to increase to nearly 4 million Americans by 2027.

According to the report, this is the first time in seven years enrollment in the ACA has dropped nationwide, with a 12 percent drop in enrollment nationally, resulting in nearly 3 million fewer Americans enrolling in healthcare coverage through the ACA, including 45,000 Wisconsinites. 

“Since Day One, my administration has been working to ensure Wisconsinites can easily access quality, affordable healthcare, but Republicans in Congress seem hell-bent on undoing our important work. After back-to-back record-breaking years of enrollment under the Affordable Care Act under my administration, a new report shows that after Republicans allowed tax credits to expire that made healthcare coverage affordable for millions of Americans, 45,000 fewer Wisconsinites signed up for healthcare this year. Folks, that’s unacceptable,” said Gov. Evers. “A recent report shows that Wisconsinites have spent $2,000 more on gas, electricity, and tariff-affected goods since President Trump and Republicans in Congress took over for his second term. Working families, farmers, and seniors are already stretched too thin, and now, thousands of Wisconsinites are going to have to go without healthcare, too. We should be working to make healthcare more affordable and accessible so Wisconsinites can get the care they need and when and where they need it, but Republicans in Congress are busy making healthcare more expensive and harder to find. They should be ashamed of themselves.”

Gov. Evers last month blasted President Trump and Republicans in Congress after another recently released report that found that, as of June 30, 2026, the average American household has spent about $2,072 more on gas, electricity, and tariff-affected goods since President Trump took office for his second term. That total increases to $3,569 for a typical household if they receive health insurance through the ACA marketplace. According to the report, in Wisconsin, households have paid roughly $2,035 and $3,548 more during this time period, respectively, with costs only expected to increase during the remainder of the year. 

Over the last seven-plus years, Gov. Evers and the Evers Administration have worked diligently to protect and expand access to quality, affordable healthcare in Wisconsin. When it became clear that President Trump and Republicans in Congress were considering not extending ACA tax credits that helped ensure hundreds of thousands of Wisconsinites could continue to afford their healthcare coverage, Gov. Evers took immediate steps urging Congress to take action. He raised alarms that 2026 plan year rates for Wisconsin’s individual marketplace were expected to skyrocket, with many families seeing their premiums double and some seniors seeing an increase of over $30,000 per year.

Additionally, Gov. Evers, together with a coalition of 17 other governors, sent a joint letter urging Congress to extend the enhanced premium tax credits provided by the ACA, emphasizing the added impacts of President Trump’s ’Big, Beautiful Bill,’ which was supported and passed by Republicans in Congress, including every Republican member of Wisconsin’s Congressional delegation, and reduces or eliminates several federal initiatives that help keep healthcare affordable and accessible to all, including making significant changes to Medicaid, Medicare, and the ACA. 

Gov. Evers has also urged bipartisan opposition to provisions in President Trump’s proposed Federal Fiscal Year 2027 (FFY27) budget, sending a letter to every member of Wisconsin’s Congressional delegation in which he outlined how the president’s FFY27 budget only further exacerbates the consequences of the Trump Administration’s cuts to Medicaid, Medicare, and the ACA, and will jeopardize the health of Wisconsinites. The governor’s letter was sent as congressional committees in Washington are expected to continue their work marking up the federal budget with the goal of finalizing the budget by the end of the current federal fiscal year on Oct. 1, 2026.     
 
An online version of this release is available here.
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