Congresswoman Jasmine Crockett isn’t mincing words when it comes to who she believes is responsible for Americans’ rising health insurance costs, and she’s naming names.
In a fiery Instagram post and CNN appearance this week, the Texas Democrat took direct aim at Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, accusing her and other Republicans of backing legislation that prioritized the wealthy at the expense of working families.
“Let’s be clear,” Crockett wrote on Instagram. “The Big Ugly bill is why your insurance premiums keep going up. Marjorie Taylor Greene voted for it. While the wealthy got permanent tax cuts, working families got higher bills and less coverage.”
Her comments referred to what she calls the “Big Ugly Bill” — a reference to the sweeping tax legislation passed during the Trump administration, which made corporate tax cuts permanent but allowed healthcare subsidies and middle-class relief measures to expire over time.
The Big Ugly Bill and Its Ripple Effects
Speaking with CNN’s Laura Coates, Crockett outlined the long-term consequences of that legislation — including what she describes as a direct link between the trillion-dollar tax cuts and higher healthcare costs for average Americans.
“It only passed with one vote,” Crockett said. “If one more Republican had defected, we wouldn’t be talking about higher insurance premiums right now. Marjorie Taylor Greene voted for this. Point blank, period.”
Crockett went on to argue that the bill effectively stripped $1 trillion from the U.S. healthcare system, leaving ordinary Americans to shoulder the burden.
“When you remove a trillion dollars from the health care ecosystem, everybody else has to pay more — so that the top one-percenters can keep more money in their pockets,” she said.
She also criticized what she called a pattern of “kicking people while they’re down,” noting that tax credits and subsidies that helped working-class Americans afford marketplace health insurance are now set to expire, even as the wealthy continue to enjoy permanent tax breaks.
Economic Pressure Meets Political Frustration
Crockett’s remarks come at a time when Americans across income levels are feeling the pinch from rising insurance premiums and out-of-pocket healthcare costs. The expiration of pandemic-era subsidies, inflation in medical care, and continued corporate profit growth have created a storm of economic frustration — one that Democrats like Crockett say was entirely predictable.
“They made tax cuts permanent for those at the top,” she said. “Now they’re saying they don’t want to renew subsidies for families on the marketplace. So while your insurance goes from $200 a month to $1,000 a month, that $250 monthly credit they gave you — they want to take that away, too.”
Her critique echoes broader Democratic messaging ahead of the 2026 midterms, where economic fairness and healthcare affordability are expected to be dominant issues.
A Blunt Reminder in a Season of Spin
Rep. Crockett’s candor cuts through Washington’s usual euphemisms. Her message — that economic pain is not random, but the result of political choices — resonates with Americans who feel left behind in a post-pandemic recovery defined by record corporate profits and shrinking paychecks.
It’s also a sharp challenge to Republicans who now face backlash from their own voters in rural and suburban districts where healthcare costs have surged.
Crockett’s tone — equal parts frustration and resolve — suggests she’s positioning herself not just as a critic of inequity, but as one of the few lawmakers willing to name the names behind it.
“We weren’t sent to Congress to only care when it hits home,” she wrote. “We were sent here to fight for every single constituent we represent.”
That fight, at least in Crockett’s telling, starts by calling the “Big Ugly Bill” exactly what she thinks it is — a bad deal for working Americans dressed up as economic reform.
