Arkansans are about to get hit with some of the worst health insurance rate hikes in the country. Governor Sanders is trying to take credit for it. 🤔
Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders is out here taking a victory lap, claiming she negotiated a better deal for Arkansas families on health insurance premiums. But the deal she’s bragging about still leaves Arkansans paying an average of 22% more for health coverage starting in January.
This is not a win for everyday people. It’s a loss for every working family trying to make ends meet. Let’s look at why it’s crummy for Sanders to take credit.
A 22% hike is not something to brag about
Before Sanders got involved, insurers had requested healthcare premium increases as high as 54 percent. Sanders asked the state’s Insurance Claim Commissioner to reject the offer and “negotiate” down, where the average increase landed at 22 percent. Sounds good, right? Well, a 22% hike in premiums is still crazy high. Here’s why:
- It’s the highest increase Arkansans have ever seen on the marketplace.
- It’s higher than the national average increase.
- It will mean more than 300,000 Arkansans will feel the hit after healthcare subsidies expire at the end of the year.
While Sanders pats herself on the back for her hard-line negotiation skills, families will be paying hundreds – some even thousands – more per year for the same coverage as before.
Sanders helped create this insurance mess
Here’s the part the Governor doesn’t mention: policies she champions have contributed to these skyrocketing rates.
- She supported the so-called “Big Beautiful Bill”, which slashed federal healthcare funds and allowed Affordable Care Act subsidies to expire at the end of 2025. Insurers priced those cuts into their 2026 rates, directly driving up costs.
- She cheers for work requirements on Medicaid, which threaten to kick thousands off coverage, including working people in unreliable industries.
- She locked down restrictions on SNAP benefits, making it harder for families to afford food at the same time healthcare costs are spiking.
In short, Sanders is helping dismantle the very safety nets Arkansans rely on and then turning around to claim she’s fighting for us.
What Arkansans really need
To be blunt, negotiating down an outrageous rate hike to a slightly smaller outrageous rate hike is not “fighting for working people.”
If Sanders *really* cared about Arkansans’ health and pocketbooks, she would:
- Fight to extend healthcare market subsidies so families don’t lose affordable coverage.
- Take on the drug companies that are driving costs through the roof.
- Strengthen, not weaken, programs like Medicaid and SNAP, which keep families healthy and fed.
- Invest in rural hospitals, work to open labor and delivery units, and expand postpartum Medicaid coverage.
We’re being squeezed by higher grocery bills, higher utility bills, and now, higher health insurance rates, and she tells us we should be grateful.
Sanders wants you to believe she saved the day. The truth is, she’s part of the problem and now she’s selling you a political spin instead of real solutions.
Arkansans deserve leaders who fight for us, not for their own reputation and image.
