| A group of Democratic physicians in Congress is launching a new political action committee aimed at electing more Democratic doctors to public office, a move that could give health care issues a higher-profile role in the battle for control of the House. The vehicle, which hasn’t yet been reported, is called the Democratic Doctors PAC, or Dem Doc PAC. It’s being founded by the members of the Congressional Doctors Caucus that was launched by all six Democratic physicians in Congress last year. → Polling has shown that the high cost of health care is a top concern for voters across the country. Americans are split on how to fix the system — and which party is best to tackle it — but Democrats want to create momentum behind their opposition to the Republican-led health care cuts. Rep. Raul Ruiz, a Democrat from California and emergency physician, tells me that the anticipated fallout from the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, the GOP domestic policy law enacted last year, prompted the decision to launch the effort — even if it’s coming without much time to mobilize before November. “We are in a mad-dash sprint to raise half a million,” said Ruiz, which will be used not only to make endorsements and help candidates in competitive races during this cycle, but also to build out the ability to raise “significantly more” cash in the 2028 election cycle. Organizers say that the PAC raised more than $150,000 from House Democratic leadership and physician organizations just in the month they’ve been setting it up. The group of Democratic lawmakers is evaluating which candidates to support as primary elections take place across the country. BATTLE OVER HEALTH POLICY Ruiz said one of the committee’s primary goals is to help Democrats win back control of the House, and to create a “durable” majority to pass consequential health policy favored by the party — including bolstering Medicaid following cuts imposed by the One Big Beautiful Bill. Americans have already begun to drop or lose their insurance coverage, which Democrats argue strains health systems and raises costs for everyone — even people with health insurance. Republicans argue that the policies are necessary to root out fraud, and Trump administration officials are talking with congressional leaders about how to include even more provisions going after waste or abuse in the Medicaid program as part of a reconciliation bill that could be considered this year. While lawmakers who’ve trained as doctors make up a small share of Congress, they often play an outsize role in health care debates. “Real clinical experience translates into smarter, more effective policy,” said Rep. Herb Conaway (D-New Jersey), an internal medicine physician. The PAC’s goal is to “help elect candidates who can do both, win tough races, and govern with the knowledge and judgment that patients deserve.” → The launch gives Democrats a counterpart to the more established physician-led political networks that have long existed on the Republican side. House Republicans have had their own congressional caucus, called the GOP Doctors Caucus, for almost two decades. It’s been an influential force on issues including Medicare physician payment, price transparency and health oversight measures — giving Republicans with health experience an organized voice inside the conference. While some in the caucus have floated bipartisan health care measures with Democrats over the years, many policies — including those involving health coverage, such as the Affordable Care Act — are split along ideological party lines. Ruiz and Rep. Ami Bera (D-California) attended GOP Doctors Caucus meetings when they were the only Democratic clinicians in Congress, Ruiz said. However, as their ranks grew (to a “critical mass” of six), they launched their own caucus. The new PAC is an offshoot of that Dem Doc Caucus established last year by the six Democratic physicians in Congress: Ruiz, Bera, Conaway, Kim Schrier (Washington), Maxine Dexter (Oregon) and Kelly Morrison (Minnesota). Hospitals are already starting to experience the impacts of fewer Americans with health coverage, according to the newest report from my colleague Rebecca Adams, the lead health care analyst at WP Intelligence. Coverage losses are being driven by Medicaid cuts enacted by Republicans last year, as well as the expiration of enhanced tax credits for people who purchase health insurance through the Affordable Care Act marketplaces. → The number of uninsured patients surged 25 percent in early 2026 compared to the first months of 2025, according to Ensemble Health Partners, an organization that handles patient registrations and other revenue tasks for more than 1,800 physician practices, 300 hospitals, 35 health systems, and others in 41 states. Providers located in states such as Florida and Texas, which have a larger percentage of their population enrolled in Affordable Care Act plans, could be experiencing the brunt of the problem. “The number just keeps increasing each month,” Mary Mayhew, who leads the Florida Hospital Association, told Rebecca. By April, the year-over-year increase for uninsured patients was 15 percent. The uninsured rate for hospital care has increased more rapidly than the overall uninsured rate, Mayhew said, to about 23 percent. → That data reflects what is being seen at the individual provider level. The nation’s largest for-profit hospitals reported a growing amount of care for people who could not pay their bills in their quarterly regulatory filings sent to the Securities and Exchange Commission. - Tennessee-based HCA Healthcare disclosed a nearly 19 percent increase in the estimated cost of total uncompensated care from the first three months of 2025 to the same time period in 2026.
- For Universal Health Services, the estimated cost of providing uncompensated care increased by almost 14 percent versus the same period last year — driven largely by discounts for uninsured patients, which rose by about 41 percent during the first quarter.
- Tenet Healthcare, which has fewer facilities in states impacted by the enhanced Affordable Care Act subsidy expirations, still saw uninsured and charity care costs increase by more than 8 percent during the same period.
Republican lawmakers and top Trump administration officials, including Mehmet Oz, who leads the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, argue that the decline in enrollment in Medicaid and Affordable Care Act plans represents a purge of ineligible or fraudulent enrollees. A CMS spokesperson told Rebecca that the agency also found some consumers had been enrolled in Medicaid in multiple states, or both in Medicaid and insurance through the Affordable Care Act. KFF predicts that enrollment in Affordable Care Act plans may fall from more than 22 million in 2025 to between 16.5 million and 17.5 million people by the end of this year, as reported by The Post’s Christopher Rowland. Enrollment in Medicaid, a federal-state health program, has also declined. But the steepest losses are expected to start in 2027, when Medicaid work requirements kick in, and patients have to certify that they’re working, volunteering, attending school, or participating in a qualifying job-training program for 80 hours per month in order to keep their coverage. | 
