NH Dems blast ‘reckless’ GOP shutdown, warn of rising health costs for Granite Staters

Speakers warned that a dual-income couple could face a nearly  $15,000 increase in costs if Affordable Care Act tax credits expire. 

Democratic lawmakers and local parents warned at a virtual press conference this week that the ongoing federal government shutdown—which they repeatedly framed as a Republican-driven crisis—is already putting New Hampshire families at risk and could sharply increase health care costs for thousands across the state.

State Senator Donovan Fenton (D-Keene) opened by calling it “a Republican shutdown,” arguing that national GOP leaders chose “chaos and a shutdown instead” of negotiating to preserve Affordable Care Act (ACA) tax credits that  keep premium costs down.

“We are now a full week into the Republican government shutdown, and I’ve got to be clear, it is a Republican shutdown because Republicans control everything from the House to the Senate and the White House,” Fenton said. “This shutdown was avoidable. It happened because Republicans refused to meet Democrats halfway on the protections people rely on.”

Fenton tied the national fight to New Hampshire politics, criticizing Governor Kelly Ayotte for “supporting this reckless agenda” and not breaking with former President Donald Trump on health care.

One study published by a bipartisan New Hampshire public policy group reported that nearly 50,000 Granite Staters used ACA subsidies this year and that a New Hampshire a couple in their 60s, earning $90,000 a year, could see their premiums skyrocket from $1300 to almost $15,000 in 2026 as a result of the loss of those subsidies.

  A small business owner himself, Fenton argued the ACA is a workforce tool as well as a health policy: “It helps businesses like mine attract and retain the hard-working people who come to New Hampshire,” he said.

Fenton also called out top Republicans running for the open US Senate Seat in New Hampshire, Scott Brown and John E. Sununu, saying they are “out of touch” with what families and employers are facing. 

Nancy Vawter, a Dover parent and co-chair of the Dover Democrats, offered a personal account of what the shutdown and potential policy changes could mean for her family. Her son Nathaniel, who has Down syndrome, relies on Medicaid, and she said the uncertainty around reimbursements and services is “a true nightmare.”

“With the government shut down, am I going to be getting reimbursements? Is the payment going to continue so that Nathaniel gets his services? I don’t know, and I’m honestly sick of this political football,” Vawter said. 

She added that her stepson on the Affordable Care Act (ACA) is facing premiums “doubling, tripling,” and raised concerns about continuing threats to TRICARE for veterans.

WATCH: Government shutdown could rock NH

“I have somebody 40 hours a week who takes Nathaniel out of the house. … If all that goes away, Luanne, his person, loses her job, my son has to quit his job, and then guess what? I’m going to have to lose my small business because I have no one else to rely on,” she said. “Granite Staters deserve better than this right now.”

State Representative Lucy Weber (D-Walpole), who serves on the Health, Human Services and Elderly Affairs Committee in the New Hampshire House, said higher premiums—combined with New Hampshire budget reductions—would push families to delay care and drive up system-wide costs.

“Families will have to skip prescriptions, put off appointments, and hope that they don’t get sick or have an emergency,” Weber said. 

Weber linked coverage losses to broader strain on providers, warning that when patients lose insurance, “it’s hospitals and clinics and physical and mental health centers that rely on paying patients to stay open” that will be threatened—particularly in rural communities. She cited the recent closure of a rural health care center in Franconia and pointed to a $51 million reduction to the New Hampshire Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) in the state budget.

“The only way to end this problem is by making sure that we flip the New Hampshire House and the New Hampshire Senate, and ensure that Republicans like Scott Brown and John Sununu have no path to victory here in New Hampshire in 2026,” Weber said.

During a Q&A, speakers were asked about reports that the Trump administration would withhold back pay for furloughed federal workers—an issue that could affect thousands in New Hampshire.

Weber said the idea was “abhorrent.”

“We have an obligation to pay people for the work they do,” Weber said. “Whether it’s now or whether it’s later, the idea that we are not going to pay people for the necessary and important work that they do keeping services going is just abhorrent.”

Vawter recounted meeting a Portsmouth Naval Shipyard worker who “got her notice that she had to leave immediately,” while her husband, also a shipyard employee, had been furloughed and “probably won’t get back pay.”

“So now they have a family. The wife just got canned, and now you have a husband who says, ‘Wait a minute, this was not my choice to be furloughed right now,’ and so now he’s not going to get paid,” Vawter said.