War Abroad, Healthcare at Home

This week, the news cycle has been dominated by the escalating conflict with Iran. Like many of you here in Tennessee, I am watching these developments with deep concern.

In addition to the inexcusable human cost, there is a financial reality we have to acknowledge. Early estimates suggest this bloodshed is costing the United States taxpayers roughly $3.7 billion in just the first 100 hours alone. Research cited by Al Jazeera puts the cost at nearly $900 million per day.

Think about that for a second. We are spending close to a billion dollars every single day overseas.

When our country decides to use military force, every decision carries serious consequences. They affect the men and women in uniform, they affect taxpayers, and they reflect the priorities we set here at home. That raises an uncomfortable but necessary question: what are our priorities as a country?

While we can find nearly a billion dollars a day for military operations, millions of Americans are struggling just to afford a visit to the doctor. That brings us to the issue I want to focus on this week: Medicaid, work, and the reality families here in Tennessee are living with.

The Healthcare Reality in Tennessee

During my travels and conversations across Tennessee’s 6th Congressional District, I hear the same thing over and over again. Whether I am in a small town on the Cumberland Plateau or a growing suburb closer to Nashville, people tell me the same story: healthcare is getting harder to afford, harder to access, and harder to navigate.

For many families, this isn’t some high-level policy debate. It is a daily worry.

We didn’t get here overnight, and no single party created every problem in our healthcare system. But recent policy decisions in Washington have made the situation worse. Tax policies that favored the wealthiest Americans have been paired with cuts to programs that working families rely on for healthcare. Those cuts ripple through systems like TennCare, which supports children, pregnant women, and people with disabilities. They also put additional strain on rural hospitals and the federal systems that serve our veterans.

Straining Rural Tennessee

Our district is a unique mix of natural landscapes and dense communities. The Cumberland Plateau, the Highland Rim, and the Central Basin are home to hardworking people who often live miles away from the nearest major hospital.

About 52% of the 6th District is rural. In many of these communities, people already drive long distances just to see a specialist. Many rural hospitals are operating on razor-thin margins. Across Tennessee and much of rural America, hospitals have been forced to shut down departments or eliminate services entirely just to stay open.

When a hospital closes its labor and delivery unit, expecting mothers are suddenly forced to driveing hours for prenatal care or childbirth. That is not merely a statistic on a report, nor an inevitable consequence of a necessary policy decision. That is a real family trying to navigate a system that is already stretched too thin.

The Looming Coverage Gap

Another major concern is the expiration of enhanced subsidies under the Affordable Care Act (ACA) at the end of 2025. Those subsidies helped keep insurance premiums manageable for millions of Americans. Without them, costs will rise sharply for many families.

In 2025, roughly 642,000 Tennesseans were enrolled in ACA plans. Based on population estimates, approximately 130,000 to 142,000 residents in Tennessee’s 6th District likely relied on those plans. These include:

• Gig workers and freelancers
• Small business owners
• Self-employed contractors
• Workers whose employers don’t provide health insurance

These people are not numbers on a spreadsheet. These are our neighbors.

The Human Side of the Policy

Policy discussions in Washington can sometimes feel abstract, but the consequences here in Tennessee are deeply personal.

It looks like a veteran struggling with PTSD who cannot find a provider nearby. It looks like a young person battling addiction with nowhere to turn for treatment. Right now, Tennessee ranks 45th in overall healthcare performance. We face high rates of infant mortality, heart disease, and limited access to care for many families.

Even more troubling, state reports indicate that over 75% of pregnancy-related deaths in Tennessee are considered preventable. That statistic alone should be a wake-up call for every lawmaker in this country.

Breaking the Myth

You will sometimes hear the claim that Medicaid is for people who “don’t work.” That simply is not true.

Many people who rely on Medicaid are already working. They work service jobs, seasonal jobs, construction jobs, and part-time work while caring for children or elderly parents. Healthcare coverage often determines whether someone can keep working at all. A healthy workforce is not a luxury. It is the foundation of a functioning economy.

A Question of Priorities

At the end of the day, every budget is a reflection of our priorities. When we choose toan spend nearly a billion dollars a day on military operations but tell working families we cannot afford to keep their hospital open or help them see a doctor, something is out of alignment.

The truth is, we have the money in this country. What we lack right now is the political will to spend it on the people who need it most. We can support our troops, protect our national security, and still make sure that a mother in a rural county can access prenatal care. These things are not mutually exclusive. We have the money, we need the values.

Those valuesBut they require leadership willing to focus on the real lives and struggles of the people they represent. Healthcare should never be a privilege reserved for a few. It should be something every American family can count on when they need it.

That is one of the reasons I am running for Congress. The people of Tennessee’s 6th District deserve a government that remembers who it is supposed to serve.