In testimony before House leaders, Frye called out devastating cuts to health insurance and the toll on caregivers
Link to Committee Hearing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OnYuwKYUfSM
WASHINGTON, D.C. – October 28, 2025 – Today, National Partnership for Women & Families President Jocelyn C. Frye testified before the House of Representatives’ Democratic Steering and Policy Committee, the Democratic Women’s Caucus and other House leaders at a hearing on “The Cost of Care – Strengthening the Care Economy and Protecting the ACA.”
Frye joined fellow advocates for women and families to sound the alarm on the harmful impacts of proposed cuts to Medicaid and the Affordable Care Act (ACA) – and the resulting strain on women, caregivers and the economy.
The following is Jocelyn C. Frye’s official testimony:
To Leader Jeffries; Co-Chair Wasserman Schultz; DWC Chair Leger Fernandez; Whip Clark; DPCC Chair Dingell; Vice Chair Leiu; and all the members in attendance: thank you for inviting me to appear on behalf of the National Partnership for Women & Families.
Our organization is grateful for this chance to focus on the cost of care, to understand the investments women and families need to be healthy, well, and economically stable, and to reject the irresponsible, dangerous, and devastating health care cuts advanced by Congressional Republicans that are putting too many families at risk.
No one who has been paying attention should be surprised by the care challenges facing women. Every day, millions of families grapple with enormous caregiving and health care costs because America’s care infrastructure is uneven, incomplete, and unresponsive.
Women are often at the center of managing these costs for their families – as caregivers and care coordinators, attending appointments, scheduling care, and figuring out how to address their loved ones’ care needs. As a result, women most often pay the heaviest price for our infrastructure failures. They lose income when they have to take unpaid time from work to provide care, they face more health risks when their health providers shut down, and they face unfair treatment because the care work they do is seen as less valuable or a liability. This was true before the COVID pandemic, it was true and even worse during the pandemic, and it remains true today.
We know a great deal about the solutions that can improve women’s lives – women need comprehensive, high quality, affordable health care, and they need policies to help address their caregiving needs at work and at home.
Yet, the current administration and Congress are taking us in the wrong direction. They have pursued drastic cuts weakening the baseline of protections provided through Medicaid and the Affordable Care Act.
Women rely on Medicaid and the ACA to afford the care they need, including preventive, primary, and specialty care services. Cuts in funding will mean fewer mammograms, Pap tests, and blood pressure checks – and directly jeopardize women’s lives.
Last year, an estimated 10 million women relied on the ACA’s tax credits to afford care and to have their premium costs either reduced or eliminated altogether. Without these credits, their annual premiums could more than double.
The risk of higher costs is particularly problematic for those who are pregnant. In recent years, the average out-of-pocket cost for a woman giving birth was roughly $3,000 with insurance. Without insurance, those costs were nearly $19,000. Such increases are unconscionable – especially when America already suffers the worst maternal health outcomes among all high-income nations.
Health care cuts hurt women workers – and weaken our entire economy. Ending the ACA’s tax credits is projected to cost states almost $41 billion and to eliminate more than 300,000 jobs. Many of those lost jobs would be concentrated in health care, where women disproportionately work.
All these cuts occur in an environment that we know lacks critical care supports such as paid family leave and affordable child care. The result is more economic stress on families already facing income instability, especially as different groups of women experience declining labor force participation rates. New research from the National Partnership has found that mothers of young children – and Black mothers, in particular – are already experiencing historic labor force participation declines.
Congress – and our nation – must do better. We need more investments – in caregiving and in health care – not fewer. We need to embrace an affirmative agenda for women – one where health care is accessible and affordable, where caregiving is valued and care needs are supported, and where our investments in care are understood as issues of equity and fairness.
The National Partnership looks forward to working with each of you on all of these issues to meet the needs of American families.
Thank you.
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