January 16, 2026
(Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) — Today, 314 Action held a virtual press conference following the release of Donald Trump’s “healthcare plan,” as millions of Americans face skyrocketing insurance premiums. 314 Action President Shaughnessy Naughton was joined by Democratic doctors running for Congress from coast to coast, including: Dr. Richard Pan (CA-06), Dr. Tina Shah (NJ-07), Dr. Matt Klein (MN-02), and Col. Dr. Darren McAuley (FL-15).
Doctors warned that Trump’s proposal doesn’t provide any relief to American families, shared stories from the frontlines of their hospitals and offered real policy solutions to America’s healthcare crisis. Excerpts from their remarks are below:
Shaughnessy Naughton, President of 314 Action
“After President Trump literally gave the middle finger to Americans earlier this week, yesterday, he metaphorically did with his one page plan for healthcare that could have been split out by ChatGPT…This Administration and Congress had the last year to do something to extend the Affordable Care Act credits that would allow people to continue to purchase health insurance to keep themselves and their families safe, and they failed to do that. And so here we are.”
Dr. Tina Shah, candidate for New Jersey’s 7th Congressional District
“What we’re seeing is that cutting corners on health insurance might look like a way to save money to Trump and Congressional Republicans, but let me be clear, the way they save money is by letting people die. That’s not leadership, that’s negligence, and this is an urgent crisis, and my Republican Tom Kean Jr., he continues to look the other way while his constituents struggle.”
Dr. Matt Klein, candidate for Minnesota’s 2nd Congressional District
“I see patients every day who have enormously complex and expensive medical conditions. They may have had a liver transplant, they may have rheumatoid arthritis and they’re maintained on biologic agents, or they have end stage renal disease, they need to know that they can plan their year. They’ll be able to come into the hospital if necessary. They’ll be able to see their specialist if necessary. Because they have coverage. They don’t need a nebulous promise of possible cash in their pocket that would nowhere near cover the cost of their care.”
Colonel Dr. Darren McAuley, candidate for Florida’s 15th Congressional District
“Being both arsonists and firemen, we’ve seen Republican leadership do everything that they can to destabilize the American healthcare system and for what? To find more money for permanent tax giveaways for the richest billionaires in history, so the richest people, not just in the country, but in the world, can buy another super yacht.”
Dr. Richard Pan, candidate for California’s 6th Congressional District
“But you know, as a doctor, we also know when patients are in front of you and they’re bleeding out, you got to first stop the bleeding, right? You don’t let the patient die while you’re trying to figure out, Oh, what are we going to do next? And what we do know is what we have in the tax credits for the ACA and in Medicaid, the very programs being cut by Donald Trump in this Republican administration, is something that ensured that millions more people got healthcare than what’s going to happen right now.”
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