The Price of Rep. Jen Kiggans (R-VA02)’s Loyalty to Donald Trump: Your Health Care

Guest post by a member of Bridge2Blue (a grassroots Indivisible group in Virginia) 

Representative Jen Kiggans (R, VA-2) has made her priorities painfully clear: when forced to choose between Donald Trump and the health care needs of Virginians, she chooses Trump every time. Her voting record shows a pattern of decisions that put families, seniors, veterans, and working people in her district at risk—despite her own public acknowledgments of the harm these policies would cause.

More than 300,000 Virginians statewide rely on Affordable Care Act subsidies to pay for their health insurance — yet Rep. Kiggans voted twice to end those subsidies, even after publicly admitting in December 2025 that failing to extend them would be devastating. “I have 40,000 people in my district who rely on this health care, and doing nothing to prevent a spike in their premiums is wrong,” she said.

Those 40,000 ACA subsidy recipients in Virginia’s 2nd District are now facing higher premiums because Kiggans allowed the subsidies to expire. Her vote has already caused premiums to skyrocket for families in Virginia Beach, Chesapeake, and the Eastern Shore—people already struggling with rising costs. Many have been pushed off their plans entirely, leaving them uninsured or forced into medical debt.

Her votes on Medicaid are just as damaging. Earlier this year, Kiggans supported a Republican budget package that included $625 billion in Medicaid cuts over a decade. She knew exactly what these cuts meant; she had previously acknowledged that reductions to Medicaid “threaten the viability of hospitals, nursing homes, and safety‑net providers.” Yet she still voted for the legislation backed by Trump and Republican leadership that would slash Medicaid services nationwide. Taken together, her votes jeopardize coverage for more than 100,000 constituents, including children, seniors in long‑term care, people with disabilities, and working families who cannot afford private insurance. For those families, this isn’t a partisan debate in Washington. It’s a question of whether their local hospital stays open and whether they can afford to see a doctor.

The consequences are already visible across the district. On the Eastern Shore, Riverside Shore Memorial Hospital—the only hospital for miles—has warned that Medicaid cuts threaten the financial stability of rural hospitals that depend on Medicaid reimbursements to stay open. In Virginia Beach and Chesapeake, where ACA enrollment is among the highest in the state, the loss of subsidies means massive premium spikes and thousands losing coverage. Throughout Hampton Roads, hospitals such as Sentara Virginia Beach General, Sentara Norfolk General, and Chesapeake Regional rely heavily on Medicaid funding to maintain emergency rooms, specialty services, and adequate staffing. Cuts of this magnitude mean longer wait times, reduced services, and increased strain on already overburdened providers.

The harm from Rep. Kiggans’ votes is especially severe for veterans, who make up one of the largest populations in her district. Veterans rely on a combination of VA health care, Medicaid, and ACA marketplace plans—and Kiggans voted to undermine all three. Many younger veterans, National Guard members, and military families who are not yet eligible for full VA care depend on ACA marketplace plans to bridge gaps in coverage. Her vote to end ACA subsidies directly raises their premiums.

At the same time, thousands of veterans in her district rely on the Veterans Health Administration for their medical care. Yet Kiggans voted to slash the Veterans Administration (VA) budget and eliminate critical services. Her vote came as the VA announced plans to eliminate thousands of jobs nationwide—positions that provide mental health care, primary care, and specialty services to veterans who have already sacrificed so much. Veterans in Hampton Roads, home to one of the largest military and veteran populations in the country, now face longer wait times and reduced access to care because their representative refused to stand up for them.

The pattern is unmistakable. Whether it’s ACA subsidies, Medicaid funding, or veterans’ health care, Rep. Jen Kiggans consistently votes against the interests of the people she represents. She has chosen political loyalty over the health and well‑being of Virginians—knowing full well the consequences. Families will pay more for insurance. Seniors and people with disabilities will lose access to care. Hospitals and clinics will struggle to stay open. Veterans will face reduced services and longer waits.

Virginians deserve a representative who fights for their health—not one who sacrifices their constituents interests to stay in Donald Trump’s good graces.