Barrett’s health care record undercuts campaign ad

Michigan Rep. Tom Barrett is trying to distance himself from the health care industry that has given tens of thousands of dollars to his campaigns.

Barrett boasts in a new campaign ad that he doesn’t “take a dime” from private health insurers, saying “I sent their money back and told them to lower premiums instead.”

Federal Elections Commission filings indicate that Barrett has returned some donations from the insurance industry this year—but not all of them. He has yet to refund a $1,000 contribution he accepted in June from the UnitedHealth Group PAC.

While Barrett has shunned insurance companies, he has still received support from industries with overlapping interests, most notably Big Pharma. The pharmaceutical industry spent more than $20,000 boosting Barrett in his 2022 and 2024 campaigns.

Barrett has voted to advance pharmaceutical industry interests in Congress. He supported the 2025 One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBB), which weakened Medicare’s ability to negotiate lower drug prices for seniors. The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office says big pharmaceutical companies will take in an additional $8.8 billion as a result.

OBBB will also impose a $1 trillion cut to Medicaid over the next decade, forcing up to 14,621 of Barrett’s own constituents to lose their health insurance.

Barrett also voted against extending Affordable Care Act (Obamacare) subsidies that lowered monthly insurance premiums for about 22 million Americans. About 8,600 people in his district are expected to drop health insurance as a result of this change.

Barrett’s 2026 campaign is also being boosted by the American Action Network, a conservative advocacy group that is partially bankrolled by Big Pharma and health insurance companies. The group paid for a television ad supporting Barrett.

The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) has identified Barrett as one of the most vulnerable House Republicans facing reelection this year. His Democratic opponent is activist Will Lawrence.