\u201cMaybe for a billionaire like Donald Trump, a bump in your healthcare isn\u2019t life-changing,\u201d Frost conceded, taking a predictable swing at the Republican president. But for a working family, he said, \u201cThat\u2019s a matter of medicine or food. \u2026 It\u2019s a matter of life or death.\u201d<\/p>\n
The primary sticking point that led to the federal government shutdown that began Oct. 1 was a fight to preserve federal subsidies that have helped keep healthcare affordable for millions of Americans who purchase insurance through the Affordable Care Act marketplace. Those tax credits, first made available through the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021, are set to expire by the end of 2025 unless Congress extends them.\u00a0<\/p>\n
If the subsidies do expire, monthly healthcare premiums for those ACA marketplace plans could more than double<\/a>, potentially costing low- and moderate-income earners hundreds or even thousands of dollars more per year. Frost estimates<\/a> this could affect 200,000 people in his Orlando-area district alone.<\/p>\n \u201cRepublicans have chosen to shut down this government because they don\u2019t want to do anything about healthcare and because they want more room in the federal budget to give their billionaire donors and mega-corporations a tax break,\u201d Frost said. \u201cAnd it\u2019s disgusting.\u201d<\/p>\n Impact on the federal workforce<\/p>\n Also at stake amid the shutdown is reliable paychecks for more than 1 million federal government employees across the country. That group includes thousands of people in Central Florida who work for the Departments of Veterans Affairs, Transportation, Homeland Security and other critical agencies.<\/p>\n \u201cEvery day that this shutdown continues, more families fall behind, more stress builds and more essential services are put at risk,\u201d said Tatiana Finlay, a union representative for the American Federation of Government Employees Local 556, which represents TSA officers at Orlando International Airport.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cFederal workers don\u2019t stop showing up,\u201d she said, referring to federal workers who haven\u2019t been furloughed. \u201cBut each day without pay chips away at the stability and dignity they earn.\u201d<\/p>\n Amid the shutdown, many federal government employees are forced to either work without pay, or have already been furloughed (also without pay) until Congress reaches a funding agreement that will allow the government to reopen.<\/p>\n Federal employees have conventionally been guaranteed back pay once a government shutdown lifts, although a recent White House memo this week floated that, just maybe, they are not entitled to that after all<\/a>.<\/p>\n Speaking at the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 606\u2019s union hall in Orlando Thursday, Finlay recalled the last federal government shutdown that occurred during Trump\u2019s first term in the White House in 2018.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cI remember the last one \u2014 the silence in the break rooms, the fear of opening banking apps, the exhaustion of putting on a uniform knowing no paycheck was coming,\u201d Finlay said. \u201cI remember co-workers carpooling because they couldn\u2019t afford gas, and officers holding back tears because they didn\u2019t know how to feed their kids.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cAnd yet we showed up,\u201d said Finlay. \u201cBecause that\u2019s what federal workers do. We serve this country even when it feels like the system is not serving us.\u201d <\/p>\n The government shutdown, she added, \u201cisn\u2019t just about a missing paycheck,\u201d but priorities.<\/p>\n \u201cFederal workers don\u2019t stop showing up, but each day without pay chips away at the stability and dignity they earn.\u201d<\/p>\n The federal workforce has already taken a hit under the Trump administration\u2019s Department of Government Efficiency, a novel (and controversial) initiative that ordered federal agencies to drastically reduce their workforce. <\/p>\n The U.S. Department of Education \u2014 a prominent target of right-wing forces \u2014 is now hanging by a thread<\/a>, the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) has been dismantled<\/a>, and the Social Security Administration has reportedly already lost 20 percent of its staff<\/a> since Trump took office.<\/p>\n The White House on Friday also reportedly began moving forward with permanent layoffs<\/a> of employees in various departments, including Homeland Security, as previously threatened by White House budget director and Project 2025 architect Russell Vought. The move has been slammed by the AFGE, the largest union of federal workers, and the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees.<\/p>\n \u201cA budget is not just a financial document. It\u2019s a statement of values,\u201d said Finlay. \u201cIt tells workers, families and communities whether they matter.\u201d<\/p>\n \u2018Kicking the most vulnerable to the curb\u2019<\/p>\n State Reps. Anna Eskamani and Rita Harris, both Democrats, also joined Frost\u2019s rally Thursday, highlighting the stakes of adequate government funding in a state that hasn\u2019t expanded access to Medicaid (even though the federal government, not the state, would fund most of the expansion). <\/p>\n Florida is also expected to see more low-income Floridians kicked off social welfare programs<\/a> like SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program) moving forward, as a result of eligibility changes made through Trump\u2019s \u201cOne Big Beautiful Bill\u201d signed into law in July.<\/p>\n \u201cWe reviewed the changes here in Florida to Medicaid, to SNAP and to TANF [Temporary Assistance for Needy Families] because of the big, ugly bill, and we learned that more than 181,000 Floridians who currently have exemptions to the administrative burdens to access SNAP are no longer going to have those exemptions,\u201d said Eskamani, who attended presentations<\/a> on the topic during legislative committee meetings earlier this week.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cThat includes our veterans, that includes foster youth, and it includes immigrants with legal status, including asylum seekers and refugees and victims of human trafficking,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n \u201cThis comes from the party that says they care about veterans, they care about our survivors of human trafficking,\u201d Eskamani said of the GOP. \u201cThey say they care about the most vulnerable, and here they are kicking the most vulnerable to the curb.\u201d<\/p>\n Congressional Republicans, meanwhile, argue that Democrats are to blame for the government shutdown (although the majority of Americans disagree<\/a>) and claim Democrats are being unreasonable in their demands.<\/p>\n \u201cThey\u2019re trying to make this about health care. It\u2019s not. It\u2019s about keeping Congress operating so we can get to health care. We always were going to. They\u2019re lying to you,\u201d Republican House Speaker Johnson told reporters<\/a> on Thursday. \u201cThe health care issues were always going to be something discussed and deliberated and contemplated and debated in October and November.\u201d<\/p>\n Florida Democratic Party chair Nikki Fried, however \u2014 who made a surprise visit to Frost\u2019s rally Thursday night \u2014 argued that Democrats don\u2019t trust Republicans will meaningfully return to the issue for negotiation. And they want to settle this now, not later. <\/p>\n \u201cWe stand firm with our family members, and we\u2019re asking Republicans to do their damn jobs,\u201d Fried said.<\/p>\n Subscribe to Orlando Weekly newsletters.<\/a><\/p>\n Follow us:\u00a0Apple News<\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0Google News<\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0NewsBreak<\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0Reddit<\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0Instagram<\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0Facebook\u00a0<\/a>|\u00a0Bluesky<\/a>\u00a0| Or sign up for our\u00a0RSS Feed<\/a><\/p>\n Related Stories<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t \n\t\t\t\t\tIt\u2019s the latest indication that DeSantis\u2019 dubious war with Disney is in fact over\n\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/aca-marketplace-enrollees-will-pay-more-for-benchmark-coverage-if-enhanced-tax-credits-expire1-687x1.png\")
KFF analysis of how changes to ACA tax credits could affect health plan enrollees. Credit: KFF<\/a><\/p>\n
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