MAGA Rep. Voted Against Obamacare Because He Says It “Enslaved” People
Nearly 137,000 Iowans stand to lose their access to the Affordable Care Act marketplace if Representative Zach Nunn has his way.
The Hawkeye State Republican has gone on a tear against the ACA, slandering the health insurance solution as a form of modern-day human bondage while broadcasting his intention to dismantle the popular national program.
Last week, Nunn told the Westside Conservative Club that he believed the “ACA keeps people in a position of permanent servitude.”
“Let me be very clear: I am not in favor of the ACA going forward. We have a bill that will immediately end it,” Nunn said. “The ACA is one of the most destructive health care plans out there.”
Nunn maintained a similar tone earlier in January, when he told the “America first” podcast Steak for Breakfast that the Obama-era solution was a “disaster” that had “enslaved” its beneficiaries.
“The Democrats’ plan has failed, but let’s talk holistically about fixing it for everybody, not just the few people that are on the Unaffordable Care Act and have become enslaved into that program,” Nunn told the show.
The Affordable Care Act’s marketplace has had an immense impact on the way that America approaches health insurance coverage. Roughly one in seven U.S. residents are enrolled in the marketplace, according data from the Treasury Department. A record 24 million Americans signed up for coverage through the ACA marketplace at the beginning of 2025, roughly double the number of people who enrolled just four years earlier amid the Covid-19 pandemic.
Yet Republicans have fought tooth and nail to repeal and replace the program since it was signed into existence in 2010. Donald Trump originally campaigned on the issue in 2016, promising to end Obamacare, though he and his allies have not yet been completely successful.
In July, the conservative caucus slashed $1.1 trillion from the ACA’s appropriations via Trump’s “big, beautiful” law.
Despite the needs of his constituents, Nunn voted for the deleterious funding package, and in doing so contributed to the closure of multiple health clinics in his state that partially relied on federal funding.
They included a MercyOne clinic in Ottumwa, which is expected to close at the end of February, the MercyOne Family Medicine clinic in Traer, and the Henry County Health Center-Wayland Clinic.
Several other Iowa clinics have had to lay off their staff or drastically reduce critical services, such as birthing clinics. Some of the impacted sites include the Pella Regional Medical Clinic in Ottumwa, the Southeast Iowa Regional Medical Center, and MercyOne clinics in Des Moines and Mason City.
Meanwhile, millions of Americans across the country are still waiting for the Senate to pass an extension for the ACA’s premium tax credits, which assist individuals making upward of 400 percent of the federal poverty level. The premium credits expired at the end of December and have yet to be renewed.