Health Insurance CEO Hearing: Demanding Answers for Premium Increases His Votes Caused
Why This Matters for NY-23
Over 6,300 NY-23 residents use the ACA marketplace. When enhanced subsidies expired December 31, 2025, their premiums jumped an average of $100-$212/month. Langworthy voted to let those subsidies expire, then voted against restoring them, then demanded insurers explain why premiums went up. The premium increases he’s asking about are directly caused by his own votes.
Statement
Source: Facebook Post, January 24, 2026
“Health insurance premiums keep rising despite trillions of taxpayer dollars pouring into the system… I asked each one directly: what are you doing—right now, specifically—to actually control costs for families? Working families deserve transparency, accountability, and a health care system that puts patients over profits.”
Context: House Energy and Commerce and Ways and Means Committees joint hearings with insurance CEOs, January 22, 2026.
The Contradiction
The “rising premiums” Langworthy demanded insurers explain are directly attributable to legislative actions he supported:
Vote 1: OBBB (H.R. 1) — May 22, 2025: YES
- Did NOT extend enhanced ACA premium tax credits
- Cut $911 billion from Medicaid over 10 years
- Eliminated automatic reenrollment for subsidized enrollees
- Enhanced premium tax credits expired December 31, 2025
Vote 2: H.R. 6703 (ACA Subsidy Extension) — January 8, 2026: NO
- Three-year extension of enhanced premium tax credits
- Passed 230-196 (17 Republicans joined all Democrats)
- Langworthy voted against restoring the subsidies
- Bill was forced to the floor via discharge petition after Speaker Johnson refused to schedule a vote
Two weeks later: Langworthy demanded insurers explain why premiums increased.
The Premium Increases
2026 Gross Premium Increases:
- KFF: 26% average (30% in Healthcare.gov states)
- Commonwealth Fund: 21.7% average
- Peterson-KFF Health System Tracker: 18% median proposed increase
What Enrollees Actually Pay:
- KFF: 114% average increase in what previously subsidized enrollees pay
- Example: 60-year-old couple earning $85,000 → premiums increase $22,600/year
- 725,000 people with incomes 400-500% FPL lose subsidy eligibility entirely
Why Premiums Rose — Insurers’ Own Explanation:
- Rising underlying healthcare costs
- Subsidy expiration causing healthier enrollees to drop coverage (adverse selection)
- OBBB marketplace changes creating enrollment barriers
Insurers attributed approximately 4 percentage points of premium increases directly to subsidy expiration.
NY-23 Impact
From verified Sen. Gillibrand estimates:
- 6,300+ NY-23 residents use ACA marketplace
- Chautauqua County resident earning $65,000: premium increase of $104.30/month ($1,252/year)
- Family of four earning $130,000: premium increase of $212.26/month ($2,547/year)
22 million of the 24 million marketplace enrollees nationally received enhanced subsidies before expiration.
Local Healthcare Consequences
ECMC Layoffs (January 29, 2026)
Erie County Medical Center announced:
- 150 employees laid off (3% of workforce)
- Management furloughs for one week
- Cause cited: “inadequate reimbursements from public and private payers, including Medicaid cuts”
NYSNA Statement: “In the midst of federal attacks on healthcare, our hospitals… should be looking for ways to protect safe, quality patient care.”
Kaleida Health Closures
- Millard Fillmore Surgery Center closing October 2025
- Buffalo Therapy Services closing
- DeGraff Medical Park closing
- 60+ employees impacted
1199 SEIU “Code Red”
- 8 Southern Tier hospitals at risk of closing
- 50,000 NY healthcare jobs threatened
- Hundreds bused to Albany to protest federal cuts
Timeline
The Pattern: Create the Problem, Blame Someone Else
| Date | What He Did | What He Said |
|---|---|---|
| May 2025 | Voted for subsidy expiration | — |
| Jan 8, 2026 | Voted against subsidy restoration | — |
| Jan 24, 2026 | — | Demanded insurers explain premium increases |
The math:
- Enhanced ACA subsidies cost approximately $25-30 billion/year
- OBBB added $4.5 trillion to the deficit over 10 years (primarily tax cuts)
- Langworthy voted for the $4.5 trillion deficit increase while opposing the $25-30 billion that kept premiums affordable
In Plain Language
Here’s the sequence:
- May 2025: Langworthy votes YES on a bill that lets ACA subsidies expire
- December 31, 2025: Subsidies expire, premiums spike 20-30%
- January 8, 2026: Langworthy votes NO on restoring the subsidies
- January 24, 2026: Langworthy asks insurance CEOs: “What are you doing to control costs for families?”
The premium increases are partially his doing. Insurers attributed about 4 percentage points of premium increases specifically to the subsidy expiration causing healthier people to drop coverage.
Meanwhile, Erie County Medical Center laid off 150 employees citing “inadequate reimbursements from public and private payers, including Medicaid cuts” — the same Medicaid cuts Langworthy voted for.
Questions This Raises
- Does Langworthy acknowledge that the premium increases are partially caused by the subsidy expiration he voted for?
- Why did he vote NO on H.R. 6703 on January 8, then demand insurers explain premium increases on January 24?
- How does he reconcile calling subsidies “trillions of taxpayer dollars” with demanding insurers lower premiums that rose because those subsidies ended?
- Is he aware that 6,300+ NY-23 residents face premium increases of $100-$212/month as a direct result of his votes?
Related Fact-Checks
- Premium Tax Credits: Response Pivoted Away from Constituent’s Question
- ACA Subsidies: Falsely Claiming High Earners Get “Free Health Care”
- Medicaid Coverage Cuts
Sources
- Langworthy Facebook post (January 24, 2026)
- House Energy and Commerce Committee hearing materials (January 22, 2026)
- NBC News: “Insurance CEOs face bipartisan grilling” (January 22, 2026)
- KFF: “How Much Will Health Insurance Premiums Increase in 2026?”
- KFF: “What the End of Enhanced ACA Subsidies Means for Enrollees”
- Congress.gov: H.R. 1 (OBBB) vote record — Langworthy: YES
- Congress.gov: H.R. 6703 vote record — Langworthy: NO
- WGRZ: “ECMC will cut about 3% of mostly non-clinical jobs” (January 29, 2026)
- WIVB: “Around 150 employees of ECMC laid off” (January 29, 2026)
- WKBW: “Healthcare workers from Western New York head to Albany” (January 12, 2026)
- Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand: NY-23 premium impact estimates (October 2025)
Note: This entry documents publicly available information from congressional records, committee hearings, CBO reports, and news coverage. Readers may draw their own conclusions.
Last updated: February 4, 2026