Blue Wave Sends Doctors to Congress, Sets up Health Care Battles

WHO:

NBC News - The new Democratic congressional majority will include Senator-elect Annie Andrews, a South Carolina pediatrician; Senator-elect Abdul El-Sayed of Michigan, an epidemiologist who trained as a physician but did not complete a residency or practice medicine; and Representative-elect Richard Pan, a California pediatrician. All three have criticized Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

NPR - South Carolina elected Dr. Annie Andrews, a pediatrician, making her the first practicing physician who is a Democrat to serve in the U.S. Senate since 1938.

NPR - Dr. Adam Hamawy, a former U.S. Army surgeon, won in New Jersey; Dr. Richard Pan won in California; and neurosurgeon Dr. John Cowan won in Georgia.

NPR - The incoming Congress will include at least 18 physicians, 10 of them Democrats. Depending on unresolved House races, Democratic physician-lawmakers could outnumber Republicans.

NPR - Physician and nurse candidates who won included Ohio Governor-elect Dr. Amy Acton, Iowa state legislator-elect Dr. Nikhil Wagle, Arizona state legislator-elect Dr. Amelia Gallitano-Mendel, Florida state legislator-elect Dr. Jarod Fox, oncology nurse practitioner Kristina Knickerbocker in Ohio, and Illinois Representative Lauren Underwood.

NPR - 314 Action, led by president Shaughnessy Naughton, invested more than $30 million in dozens of Democratic state and federal candidates, including 48 physicians.

WHAT:

NBC News - With control of both chambers, Democrats can pursue restoring enhanced Affordable Care Act (ACA) subsidies, reversing Medicaid cuts, proposing drug-cost measures, and investigating Trump administration health policies. New laws would still require President Trump’s signature.

NBC News - The enhanced ACA subsidies expired, after which millions saw monthly premiums double or triple; about 3 million people left coverage. ACA premiums were expected to rise by double digits for a second consecutive year.

NBC News - Medicaid work requirements are expected to remove millions from coverage, including because of paperwork. A federal judge in Boston blocked a Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services rule affecting “medically frail” people and people with disabilities, and allowed states six additional months to implement a more lenient version.

NBC News - Ten states had not adopted full ACA Medicaid expansion. Democrats could also pursue limits on insurance prior authorization and address hospital costs and pharmacy benefit managers.

NBC News - Democrats could investigate Kennedy’s changes to the CDC vaccine advisory panel, federal vaccine schedule and Vaccine Injury Compensation Program. The article reported more than 4,850 U.S. measles cases, the highest number in at least 30 years.

NPR - In the current Congress, there are 20 physician lawmakers: 6 Democrats and 10 Republicans in the House, and 4 Republicans in the Senate. At least two Republican physician incumbents lost House seats; Rep. Neal Dunn retired, and Mariannette Miller-Meeks and Jen Kiggans lost.

NPR - South Carolina’s Andrews and Michigan’s El-Sayed won Senate seats; Republicans Bill Cassidy and Roger Marshall lost reelection. Marshall lost to Adam Hamilton by four percentage points.

NPR - Cassidy voted to confirm Kennedy after discussing vaccination at Kennedy’s confirmation hearing. Cassidy said a patient’s hepatitis B liver failure could have been prevented with “$50 of vaccines.” Marshall, an obstetrician-gynecologist and Kennedy supporter, had sued more than 700 patients over unpaid medical bills, according to a report cited by NPR; one patient filed a class-action lawsuit against him.

WHERE:

NBC News - The election results and potential health policy changes concern the U.S. Congress and healthcare across the United States; named states include South Carolina, Michigan, California, Georgia, Texas, Wisconsin and Kansas.

NPR - Physician candidates won or held seats in South Carolina, Michigan, New Jersey, California, Georgia, Ohio, Iowa, Arizona, Florida and Illinois.

WHY:

NPR - Andrews said she entered politics after seeing parents struggle with costs such as asthma inhalers and insulin for children, and after treating children who had been shot. She said, “the path to catalyzing this change that I want to see in America for the children in America is through politics.”

NPR - Naughton attributed physician-candidate wins to healthcare affordability being a prominent concern and public trust in doctors. She said voters were “sick of” Kennedy’s response to measles outbreaks.

NPR - Researchers cited by NPR counted 25 physicians who served in Congress from 1960 to 2004; one study noted physicians made up 10.7% of the Declaration of Independence’s signers.

HOW:

NBC News - Congressional committee control gives Democrats authority to hold hearings, demand documents and subpoena administration officials.

NBC News - Health policy experts said Democrats may negotiate with Trump over subsidies or drug costs; proposed “Medicare for All” legislation could be introduced and voted on even though the article said Trump would veto major progressive measures.

NPR - 314 Action recruits and trains candidates, helps with campaign and communications strategies, media training and fundraising, and arranges local and national media exposure.

(UPDATED November 5, 2026 01:09 UTC)

Democrats gained Congress, including several physicians critical of Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. They can investigate administration policies and pursue health coverage and drug-cost measures. South Carolina elected pediatrician Annie Andrews to the Senate.