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Vice President JD Vance responded to criticism of the president’s budget law during an appearance in Peachtree City on Thursday, shortly after Georgia Senator Jon Ossoff urged Congressional Republicans to “work across the aisle” to prevent health insurance premiums driving up for families.
“Whether you’re in a big city or a small town, we’re going to fight for your access to health care,” Vance said.
The senator, along with several other speakers, met on August 14 to issue a call to action regarding the impending rise in health insurance premiums. The cause is President Trump’s budget law, which fails to extend Affordable Care Act tax credits set to expire at the end of the year.
“A family of four in Clayton County making $65,000 a year – that’s a $2,600 increase,” Ossoff said during his speech to Congress.
According to preliminary analysis of rates by The Wall Street Journal and health research group KFF, Georgia’s average increase across all plans would be 21 percent.
“Why are we here? Because Washington Republicans refused to extend these Affordable Care Act benefits in the Trump budget,” Ossoff said on August 14. “I offered an amendment on the floor of the Senate to extend these Affordable Care Act benefits, but they have been focused on repeal of the Affordable Care Act since its inception more than a decade ago, and unless Republicans in Washington reverse course, Georgians will face 20 to 40% increases in their health insurance premiums next year.”
On Thursday, Vance denied the concerns, claiming that the only demographic that would be impacted is non-citizens and “those who refuse to try to get a job.” He added that the current administration has worked on regulation to improve access to rural healthcare.
“What we did is we put a lot of resources and a lot of changes in regulations to make it possible for our rural hospitals to stay open, despite what the Biden administration ended in four years. So our policy is very simple,” Vance said. “Whether you’re in a big city or a small town, we’re going to fight for your access to health care.”
Representative Brian Jack (R-GA) told The Citizen on Thursday that he has received “widespread support from communities who don’t have a lot and communities who have a little bit more” in his district.
“His approach, as is our approach, is that if you’re deserving and in need of that support from the federal government,” Jack said. “The federal government is going to be there for you. But what I’ve heard consistently across our district is a deep frustration with services and benefits going to individuals who could otherwise work but instead opt to stay at home.”
Whereas, Ossoff claims that individuals with higher income that currently receive subsidies will experience the greatest increase in costs. For example, a household in Macon with a $84,000 salary will see an annual increase of $18,000, according to Whitney Griggs, Director of Health Policy at Georgians for a Healthy Future.
“But these changes are not inevitable. There are steps that Congress can take to extend hands [with] premium tax credits, to keep our marketplace stable and to ensure that almost 340,000 Georgians don’t suddenly become uninsured,” Griggs said during the press conference.
In June, Ossoff offered a potential solution to the issue. He co-sponsored the Health Care Affordability Act of 2025, which would extend the ACA credits.
“Today, we stand here with Senator Ossoff to encourage our Congressional delegations all across the country to work across the aisle to prevent this bad thing from happening. It’s driving up health care [costs] for everyone. Our communities will suffer. The hospitals will suffer. Our rural communities will suffer. Gig workers, construction workers will suffer. Anyone using the system will suffer. Georgians will suffer,” said Deborah Scott, CEO of Georgia STAND-UP.
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