October 31, 2025 10:54 AM UTC

Gabe Evans Hopelessly Out Of Touch As Health Care Cliff Looms

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• by: Colorado Pols

31 days and counting into the shutdown of the federal government that began and continues with a standoff over funding for health insurance premium subsidies under the Affordable Care Act that millions of Americans rely on to afford their coverage, the mission for Democrats today is to stay focused on this crucial objective while the collateral damage from the ongoing shutdown continues to mount. FOX 31’s Gabrielle Franklin spoke with Colorado’s members of Congress as the dual shock of massive premium hikes and the cessation of food assistance to millions more Americans after the Trump administration opted to play hunger games instead of negotiating begins at midnight tonight:

Open enrollment season kicks off in just a couple of days. SNAP benefits are set to run out at the same time on Nov. 1.

Some leaders on Capitol Hill say Americans should prepare to be sticker-shocked by an increase in premiums. This is all coming with no deal on healthcare subsidies as Congress remains shut down.

The state estimates 225,000 Coloradans rely on the subsidies, saying they are set to average an increase of 101% statewide. Some members of Congress say there will be a trickle-down impact.

“When people see that shocking number, far too many are going to choose to opt out and that puts us all in a vulnerable position and especially them. The skyrocketing cost will hit all of us. They will be able to adjust, but we need action now. We need leadership in Washington to care about working families,” said Congresswoman Brittany Pettersen, a Democrat representing Colorado’s 7th Congressional District.

Yesterday, the Colorado legislative Joint Budget Committee approved $10 in emergency aid to food banks, but as Colorado Public Radio reports, that funding won’t even put a dent in the massive need the loss of SNAP benefits will create:

“It is effectively us trying to plow a field with a fork. The scale of this particular emergency vastly outstrips any ability for the state to mitigate it in any truly meaningful way,” said Tom Dermody, the state’s nonpartisan Chief Legislative Budget & Policy Analyst.

Dermody presented the $10 million proposal from the Governor’s office to the budget committee and said it falls far short of making up for the $120 million per month the state currently receives in federal SNAP benefits, money that is distributed to 600,000 Coloradans to help pay for groceries.

While the clear objective is to foster resentment against Democrats over the pause in food assistance, Rep. Joe Neguse restated the facts that polls say Americans overwhelmingly understand:

“The Trump Administration has made a conscious decision to, and deliberate choice, to suspend snap benefits,” said Congressman Neguse, a Democrat representing Colorado’s second congressional district. “Over five billion dollars available today that could be used. That must be used under the law so that hungry families don’t starve.”

While Colorado Democrats stay focused on preventing the massive insurance premium hikes that hundreds of thousands of Colorado voters are now being notified of and do what they can to mitigate the pain from the Trump administration’s cruel and possibly illegal bargaining with SNAP benefits, America’s Most Vulnerable Incumbent™ Rep. Gabe Evans, is stuck regurgitating the GOP’s debunked talking points from thirty days ago:

“These subsidies that democrats are talking about are going to illegal immigrants. If we want to get the cost of healthcare down in Colorado, we have to stop paying for illegal immigrants. We have to stop being a sanctuary city and state, and we have to cut the red tape and regulations in Colorado that is strangling our economy to include healthcare,” said Congressman Gabe Evans, a Republican representing Colorado’s 8th Congressional District.

It’s difficult to put into words just how far removed Gabe Evans is from the reality Colorado voters are actually experiencing. Thousands of people in Evans’ district who are not “illegal immigrants” rely on the ACA premium subsidies to afford their coverage. Evans’ Republican colleague Rep. Jeff Hurd at least acknowledges the problem as the sponsor of a standalone bill to restore the premium subsidies for another year. And as FOX 31 thankfully notes right after Evans’ comments, no matter how many times Evans claims otherwise, what he claims is not true:

It’s important to note that those subsidies are only available to people in the nation lawfully. [Pols emphasis] They expire at the end of the year.

Gabe Evans represents one of the nation’s most closely divided congressional districts, after winning the race in 2024 by fewer than 2,500 votes. Even far-right Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia understands that the ACA subsidies are a matter of financial if not literal life or death for thousands of her legal Georgia upcountry constituents. Evans’ arrogant dismissal of the hardship looming for his own constituents would perhaps be understandable in a safe Republican district like MTG’s, or Lauren Boebert’s carpetbagged cozy confines.

How can Evans help his constituents when he refuses to admit there’s even a problem?

In this swing district, with so many about to suffer directly from this fully preventable dual blow, how is Evans’ aloofness not political suicide?