State-sanctioned power over who lives and dies is becoming a political crisis shaped by elected officials who neglect the people they are meant to serve. Allowing Affordable Care Act enhanced subsidies to expire is effectively a life-or-death decision. Research shows that more than 40,000 people in the United States die each year due to a lack of health care, yet lawmakers appear willing to let millions lose coverage.

This domestic negligence reflects a deeper national priority: a war economy that reliably funds death and destruction while claiming that sustaining life is unaffordable. Even during the recent government shutdown, the Senate united to approve a $32 billion increase to the Pentagon budget, passing it 77–20. In contrast, extending Affordable Care Act enhanced subsidies for a single year — at roughly the same cost — was rejected, despite its potential to keep millions insured.

This pattern repeats annually. Congress routinely passes ever-larger Pentagon budgets, now approaching $1 trillion. The 2026 National Defense Authorization Act is expected to advance easily this month, while a vote to preserve health care subsidies remains uncertain. Only one of these measures is guaranteed to pass without controversy, and it is not the one that saves lives.

The disparity is stark: Continuing Affordable Care Act enhanced subsidies costs about $30 billion per year, or $82 million per day. Operating one U.S. aircraft carrier costs about $8 million daily, by some estimates —10% of the nation’s daily health care subsidy cost. One day of funding a single warship could instead fund a day of health care for hundreds of thousands of Americans.

These choices reveal a system that prioritizes war over human life, leaving many — domestically and globally — on the chopping block.

Harold A. Penner