One Year Out from the Midterm Elections, Health Care Is on the Ballot as Floridians Face an Impossible Choice: Medicine or Groceries

Today marks one year until the 2026 midterm elections, and it’s a stark reminder that once again, health care is on the ballot. As open enrollment for the Affordable Care Act begins, millions of Floridians are discovering that their premiums are set to skyrocket, while food assistance programs hang in the balance amid the ongoing Republican government shutdown.

In response, the Florida Democratic Party (FDP) launched a new awareness campaign today, featuring a press conference and mobile billboards across Miami-Dade, Osceola, and Duval counties. The campaign asks Floridians the same impossible question too many are already facing: medicine or groceries?

“The government shutdown is not an abstract political fight. It’s a direct attack on working families,” said Nikki Fried, Florida Democratic Party Chair.

Skylar Trujillo, a Florida mother battling breast cancer, shared her story at the FDP press conference today:

 “After my diagnosis, I went onto the ACA marketplace and found a plan I could afford. Because of subsidies, my premium was just $14 per month and that $14 payment is saving my life,” Trujillo said. “If my premium goes up even to $50 a month, it would push my family over a financial cliff. I’d have to choose between continuing my care and paying my rent or feeding my children. Cancer isn’t red or blue, it’s not Republican or Democratic. Anybody is one diagnosis away from it.”

Trujillo continued:

 “I’m asking lawmakers to make sure Americans don’t lose access to low-cost premiums and to protect programs we’ve paid into, like SNAP, so families can feed their kids when they hit a rough patch. This isn’t a political negotiation; it’s the negotiation millions of Americans face every single day. Do I pay for life-saving care, or do I feed my kids? This is an impossible choice, and it doesn’t have to be.”