For years, Washington politicians patted themselves on the back while quietly stuffing the pockets of massive insurance companies, calling them “essential partners” in healthcare. President Donald Trump, unsurprisingly, was having none of it. He said the quiet part out loud: “Let the money go not to the big fat cats and the insurance companies that made 1,700 percent over a short period of time.”
Then Trump offered a radical idea—radical only in Washington, of course. “Let the money go directly to the people, where they can buy their own health care.” Imagine that.
The health insurance giants that have feasted at the Obamacare buffet are finally being exposed. While these corporations grew wealthier by the quarter, patients were left with skyrocketing premiums, ballooning deductibles, and less care to show for it. But hey, at least the insurers did great—mission accomplished, right?
Since the Affordable Care Act took effect, the health insurance market has become less competitive and less affordable. Insurers consolidated, monopolized, and cashed in. According to the American Medical Association, more than 70 percent of U.S. metropolitan areas are now dominated by just one or two insurers. That kind of dominance gives them enormous power over patients who don’t exactly have the luxury of shopping around when they need care.
Take UnitedHealth Group, the largest insurer in the country. With more than 2,600 subsidiaries, it reported third-quarter 2025 revenues of $113.2 billion—a 12 percent increase year over year. That’s quarterly revenue rivaling or exceeding the annual revenue of global tech giants like Google. But sure, Obamacare was totally about helping patients.
Since its implementation, Obamacare has funneled hundreds of billions of taxpayer dollars through insurance companies, allowing Washington to write massive checks to insurers while claiming they were “helping” Americans. In reality, insurers and their pharmacy benefit managers skimmed profits and passed the costs straight down to patients. Somehow, that part never made the talking points.
If affordability is truly the goal, consolidation isn’t the answer—competition is. That means more choices, more plans, and policies that put money directly in the hands of patients instead of padding corporate balance sheets.
President Trump is asking a simple, common-sense question: why does Washington send money to insurance companies instead of putting it directly in patients’ pockets? It’s a question career politicians avoided for years, likely because the answer made their donors uncomfortable.
Trump has been clear that real healthcare reform means removing insurers from a system they’ve long exploited and redirecting resources to patients. In recent Truth Social posts, he warned that Obamacare routes hundreds of billions of dollars through insurers to prop up a broken model that limits choice and drives up costs.
That vision is gaining traction on Capitol Hill. Senator Rick Scott has introduced the More Affordable Care Act to reverse some of Obamacare’s damage by shifting subsidies away from insurers and toward Americans who actually need care. Senator Bill Cassidy’s NO UPCODE Act would also rein in massive overbilling in Medicare Advantage. As momentum builds, Big Insurance is starting to squirm—and that’s usually a good sign.
Obamacare didn’t rein in insurers; it enriched them. Now, with President Trump leading the charge and lawmakers stepping up, there’s a real opportunity to trim the fat, shut off the subsidy spigot, and finally put patients first. That’s not just good policy—it’s a winning formula for a healthier, stronger America.
