Democrats Exposed for Defending Big Insurance Companies at American Families’ Expense [WATCH]

Republican lawmakers Virginia Foxx and Jason Smith pushed back forcefully during a congressional hearing against Democratic claims that Republicans are responsible for millions of Americans losing health insurance, arguing instead that Democrats designed temporary subsidies, prioritized environmental spending, and continue to pour billions into a system they say is failing patients.

The exchange centered on the Affordable Care Act, the American Rescue Plan, and the Inflation Reduction Act, with a focus on enhanced health insurance subsidies that are set to expire at the end of the month.

Foxx opened the questioning by directly challenging the accusation that Republicans had stripped health coverage from millions of Americans.

“Mr. Smith, what law did Republicans pass that throws 15 million people off their health insurance? That’s the accusation that was made a few minutes ago,” Foxx asked.

Smith responded by rejecting the claim outright and placing responsibility on Democrats for structuring the subsidies as temporary.

“It’s a great question I’ve been setting up here listening to the testimony Madam Chair, and it is, it is unacceptable, but that people are not being honest, and not being honest with the American people, because whenever you say that Republicans remove the subsidies, that’s a complete lie,” Smith said.

“It’s not false. It’s a lie because those subsidies were created solely by Democrats, and they chose to make them temporary.”

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Smith said Democrats intentionally set the subsidies to expire in order to fund other priorities.

“In the American rescue plan and in the inflation Reduction Act, they set the sunset for the end of this month,” he said.

“You know why they set the sunset for the end of this month is because they spent all their money making permanent environmental tax benefits for their wealthy donors instead of the American people. And that is just a fact, Madam Chair.”

Foxx then addressed broader claims made during the hearing that there is only one pathway for Americans to access affordable health care.

“Thank you very much. I think you’re being very generous in what you are saying here, I also understand that a comment was made that there is only one way for Americans to access affordable health care, and that is through a discharge petition that has been introduced,” Foxx said.

“However, Americans have lots of opportunities to access affordable health care, and this bill will do that, as you said, for all Americans.”

She questioned whether Democrats were focusing their efforts on a narrow slice of the population.

“And what our colleagues are saying is they want to cover 7% of Americans. Did I hear you say that correctly? And have I heard our colleagues on our side of the aisle say that correctly?” Foxx asked.

Smith confirmed the figures and expanded on the numbers.

“That’s correct. There’s 300 and roughly 47 million Americans. There’s 24 million. That’s roughly on the exchanges, and all the conversation that you’ve heard from the other side today is about that 7% of the population,” Smith said.

He contrasted that with employer-sponsored insurance, noting, “the employer sponsored health care alone is 164 million people. Their premiums are going up, but they’re not putting forward any solutions to lower their premiums.”

Smith also accused Democrats of inconsistency on reform efforts.

“They say that they’re for PBM reform, but they’re not voting that way,” he said.

Foxx then turned to enrollment data on the health insurance exchanges, questioning whether the reported figures reflect actual use of health coverage.

“Correct. And would you like to explain about the ghost people that are being counted on the 24 million? We don’t even believe it’s 24 million. Is that not correct?” she asked.

Smith said nearly half of exchange enrollees never filed a medical claim.

“So out of the 24 million, it’s quite, quite disturbing that you look that almost just close to 12 million people last year never filed one medical claim, not one,” Smith said.

“You cannot tell me that those 12 million people did not have a medical claim.”

He attributed the discrepancy to automatic enrollment.

“These are people that are automatically enrolled in health insurance on the exchanges, and they don’t know that they have health insurance,” Smith said.

“That’s why they didn’t file a claim they had medical expenses.”

Smith argued that insurance companies benefited regardless.

“But guess what? Those insurance companies the Democrats are fighting and pushing for these major subsidies. They still got their subsidies, but the American people did not get their health care coverage,” he said.

Foxx sought confirmation.

“The health insurance companies are being paid for 12 million people who never filed a claim. Is that correct?” she asked.

“That’s correct. That was last year alone in 2024,” Smith replied.

Foxx concluded by highlighting the cost of the subsidies and criticizing Democratic policy over the long term.

“So if you say we are paying for 24 million, 12 million never filed a claim. So aren’t we talking about an even smaller group of people that our colleagues want to spend a lot of money on?” she asked.

Smith answered simply: “$40 billion a year.”

Foxx added that Democrats’ approach has remained unchanged for years.

“I’ve said what the Democrats always want to do, and that’s clear in this piece of legislation,” she said.

“That’s clear their defense of the unaffordable Care Act throw money at a problem that they think premiums in the individual market have been rising since the unaffordable Care Act was enacted, 129% since that bill was enacted, all our friends want to do is authorize more subsidies. To insurance companies. It’s the only proposal they’ve offered since 2014.”

WATCH:

.@RepJasonSmith “Whenever you say that Republicans remove the subsidies, that’s a complete lie. It’s not false; it’s a lie. Because those subsidies were created solely by Democrats, and they chose to make them temporary.” pic.twitter.com/MsH47BdoxQ

— CSPAN (@cspan) December 16, 2025