Letter to the editor: David Rouzer's excellent year

First published in the Brunswick Beacon, 01.15.26

Rep. David Rouzer’s fondest wish came true: he made healthcare coverage so much more expensive that it’s now beyond reach for hundreds of thousands of North Carolinians.

The Affordable Care Act (ACA) helped 45 million Americans buy health insurance and paid 90% of the cost of expanding Medicaid. That enabled 40 states and Washington, D.C. to cover 21 million people.

As a state legislator, Rouzer rejected federal funds to expand Medicaid, while a dozen rural North Carolina hospitals closed and rural communities struggled to find healthcare. It wasn’t until Rouzer left for Washington that North Carolina became the last state to expand Medicaid.

In 2015, just days after joining Congress, Rouzer cast his first vote to repeal the ACA. He voted again to repeal it in 2017. Every time Republicans tried to repeal it, Rouzer voted yes—despite the potentially deadly consequences for patients and families. Senators Lisa Murkowski (R-AK), Susan Collins (R-ME) and John McCain (R-AZ) joined Democrats to stop them.

Then came Donald Trump’s billionaire-friendly budget bill, which cut $1 trillion from Medicaid. Sen. Thom Tillis (R-NC) voted “NO” because he believed it would hurt NC. “What do I tell 663,000 people in two or three years,” Tillis asked, “when President Trump breaks his promise by pushing them off Medicaid?”

Rouzer didn’t care — he voted “AYE.”

In December, Rouzer and House Republicans defeated Democrats’ bill to extend ACA credits that millions of working families rely on to afford health insurance. Rouzer didn’t care that 78% of Americans, including 59% of Republicans, wanted the credits extended.

As a result, healthcare premiums for many have soared since Jan. 1. For millions of Americans, they are expected to more than double. Experts predict that 17 million people nationwide, including 663,000 North Carolinians, will lose their healthcare coverage because policies Rouzer has pushed throughout his career have made healthcare unaffordable.

David Rouzer finally got what he always wanted.

Janine Sacramone

Leland