Republicans tried to punt health care cuts until after the midterms. It didn’t work.

The political bill for Republicans’ health care agenda is coming due earlier than they’d hoped.

Republicans’ signature legislation from Trump 2.0 — 2025’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act — ensured that its tax cuts were immediate while its controversial cuts to Medicaid and other health care programs wouldn’t take effect until after the midterm elections.

Democrats worried last year that this delayed implementation would defang their attacks on the campaign trail, leaving voters unmoved by the message that a health care apocalypse was just around the corner.

But for many, it has already arrived. Millions of people have lost their Obamacare insurance following Republicans’ decision to allow Covid-era subsidies to expire last year, and the premiums for many of those who remained have skyrocketed.