On Thursday, some of the most powerful executives in American healthcare will take their seats before the House Ways and Means Committee. Stephen Hemsley of UnitedHealth Group. David Joyner of CVS Health. David Cordani of Cigna. Gail Boudreaux of Elevance Health. Paul Markovich of Blue Shield of California.
House Democrats are already sharpening their knives, not for Big Pharma or the insurance monopolies bleeding Americans dry, but for President Donald Trump.
The plan is predictable. Democrats will spend the hearing pretending Republicans are secretly “in bed” with the healthcare industry, even though the paper trail tells a very different story. Federal Election Commission records, policy alignment, and public statements all point in the same direction: America’s largest insurers and PBMs overwhelmingly favor Democrats, bankroll Democrats, and rely on Democrats to preserve a system that profits from high prices, opaque rebates, and zero accountability.
Democrats on Ways and Means have made it clear over the years that their one unifying principle is stopping Donald Trump, especially when his agenda threatens entrenched interests. Healthcare reform is no exception.
Take Rep. Richard Neal of Massachusetts, the committee’s ranking Democrat. In 2025 alone, Neal and his leadership PAC pulled in more than $25,000 from healthcare industry PACs. UnitedHealth, CVS, Elevance, Cigna, and Blue Shield all cut checks. This is the same Richard Neal who voted to impeach President Trump twice and even floated removing him via the 25th Amendment. When Neal speaks about “corporate greed,” he’s doing so with industry money in his pocket.
Rep. Mike Thompson of California follows the same script. UnitedHealth and Elevance PACs funded his campaign in 2025, and Thompson repaid the favor by consistently opposing Trump’s healthcare agenda and co-sponsoring legislation with January 6 committee alumnus Jamie Raskin to remove Trump from office. Thompson claims Trump endangered access to care, yet he cashes checks from the very insurers driving skyrocketing costs.
Connecticut Democrat John Larson also benefited from steady infusions of healthcare cash—CVS, Cigna, Elevance—while voting for both impeachments, endorsing 25th Amendment lies, and labeling Trump’s administration “chaotic.” Larson presents himself as a defender of Medicare and Social Security while standing shoulder to shoulder with the insurers siphoning billions out of both.
California Democrat Linda Sanchez, Alabama’s Terri Sewell, Washington’s Suzan DelBene, Illinois’ Brad Schneider, Nevada’s Steven Horsford—different districts, same pattern. Healthcare PAC money flows in and anti-Trump rhetoric flows out.
Rep. Linda Sanchez:
- $1,000 from CVS Health PAC
- Voted to impeach Trump twice
- Attempted to remove Trump from office via the 25th Amendment
Rep. Terri Sewell
- $5,000 from UnitedHealth Group PAC, $5,000 from Elevance Health PAC
- Voted to impeach Trump twice
Rep. Suzan DelBene
- $2,000 from CVS Health PAC, $5,000 from Elevance Health PAC
- Supported impeaching Trump twice
- Supported removing Trump via the 25th Amendment
Rep. Brad Schneider
- $2,500 from UnitedHealth Group PAC, $3,500 from Elevance Health PAC
- Voted to impeach Trump twice
- Supported removing Trump via the 25th Amendment
- Condemns Trump’s foreign policy
Rep. Steven Horsford
- $1,000 from UnitedHealth Group PAC, $1,000 from CVS Health PAC, $2,500 from Cigna Group Employee PAC
- Additionally, to his leadership PAC: $5,000 from Elevance Health PAC
- Voted to impeach Trump twice
- Criticizes Trump for enforcing immigration laws
Even Stacey Plaskett, the Virgin Islands delegate who gained notoriety this year for her handsy relationship with Jeffrey Epstein, took healthcare PAC money in 2025. Tom Suozzi of New York did too. The roster reads less like a reform committee and more like a donor appreciation list.
And it doesn’t stop with individual members.
In 2025, healthcare PACs poured tens of thousands of dollars directly into the Democrat Congressional Campaign Committee, the machine responsible for electing House Democrats nationwide. UnitedHealth, CVS, Cigna, Elevance, Blue Shield—every major player wrote checks. This wasn’t charity. It was an investment in continued protection.
Democrat leadership benefited as well. Hakeem Jeffries’ leadership PAC took money from Cigna. Jasmine Crockett’s campaign took money from Cigna. The industry didn’t hedge its bets. It picked a side.
Healthcare CEOs themselves have been just as clear. CVS’s Karen Lynch donated to Chuck Schumer. Cigna’s David Cordani has funded Democrats and establishment Republicans alike, but he made headlines by cutting off GOP candidates after January 6—signaling where his loyalties lie. Paul Markovich of Blue Shield of California went even further, dumping hundreds of thousands of dollars into Democrat causes, including massive donations to Kamala Harris and Joe Biden, while publicly attacking Trump-backed healthcare reforms and praising Biden’s expansion of the Affordable Care Act.
These CEOs aren’t neutral witnesses. They are political actors.
They oppose Trump because Trump threatens a system that works very well for them. A system where pharmacy benefit managers punish manufacturers for lowering list prices. A system where high-rebate drugs are favored over cheaper alternatives. A system where patients with high-deductible plans never see the rebates meant for them. A system that the FTC itself accused of rigging the market in its 2024 complaint against the top PBMs.
Democrats protect that system. In return, they get donations, talking points, and political cover.
During Thursday’s hearing, Democrats will accuse Republicans of corruption while sitting atop mountains of healthcare cash. They’ll claim moral outrage while defending an opaque industry that overcharges the Postal Service, hoards rebates, and inflates prices for insulin and basic care. And they’ll frame every Trump reform as “dangerous,” no matter how much it could help American patients.
If we want to make healthcare great again, the first step is honesty. The problem isn’t Republicans being captured by insurers or PBMs. The problem is Democrats acting as their enforcement arm.
And as always, the Democrats’ healthcare policy is the same as their policy on everything else: obstruct Trump at all costs, even if Americans pay the price.
