Fact Check
Unraveling claim Hakeem Jeffries took $300K from healthcare PACs before opposing Medicare for All
Jeffries hasn’t co-sponsored Medicare for All legislation since House Democrats elected him as their leader in 2022
Rae Deng
Published Aug. 19, 2026
Image courtesy of Paras Griffin, accessed via Getty Images
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Claim:Hakeem Jeffries took more than $300,000 of PAC money from healthcare companies during the 2026 midterm election cycle before coming out against Medicare for All.
Rating:
Mixture
About this rating
What’s True
Jeffries received more than $300,000 from PACs in the healthcare industry, some of which are connected to insurance companies. Jeffries also said during an August 2026 interview that he does not currently support Medicare for All legislation
What’s False
Contrary to the claim’s implication, many of the organizations tied to healthcare PACs that provided funding to Jeffries either support Medicare for All — or some form of universal healthcare — or haven’t publicly declared a stance against it
In the lead-up to the 2026 midterm elections, social media users spread a rumor about the influence of the healthcare industry on U.S. House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries.
According to the claim — which circulated on Facebook and Threads — Jeffries allegedly took more than $300,000 in PAC money from healthcare companies during the 2025-26 election cycle before saying he would not support Medicare for All, or a national health insurance program for all Americans.
Here’s how one Facebook post (archived) framed the claim:
It’s no surprise Hakeem Jeffries came out against Medicare for All
Jeffries took over $300,000 in PAC money from healthcare companies this cycle alone — and he wasn’t even facing a primary challenger
Jeffries did, in fact, say that as of August 2026, he does not support current Medicare for All legislation, despite co-sponsoring similar proposals from 2014 to 2021 as a rank-and-file member. Jeffries stopped sponsoring Medicare for All proposals after House Democrats elected him as their leader in November 2022
Furthermore, donations to Jeffries from the 2025-2026 midterms cycle did include over $300,000 in PAC money tied to the healthcare industry. However, not all of the healthcare PACs that supported Jeffries are against Medicare for All, as the claim implies. These PACs represent a wide range of interests, including health insurance companies, hospitals, nursing homes, healthcare professionals and research companies.
Thus, we have rated this claim a mixture of truth and falsehood.
A spokesperson for Jeffries, Justin Chermol, called the idea that Jeffries took money to change his position on Medicare for All a “misguided conspiracy theory” that is “blatantly false.”
“Leader Hakeem Jeffries serves a House Democratic Caucus of 215 members that is racially, ideologically and geographically diverse,” Chermol said in a direct message. “He does not sponsor or endorse major pieces of legislation until there is broad consensus, consistent with the past practices of his predecessors who served as Speaker or Leader.”
(As of this writing, 114 of 212 House Democrats, or about 54%, have co-sponsored Medicare for All legislation for the 2025-26 legislative session.)
Chermol’s message also said the Democratic Caucus has a “shared goal of universal healthcare” and that House Democrats are committed to expanding healthcare access through existing programs.
Jeffries doesn’t support Medicare for All legislation
Jeffries’ comments about Medicare for All came from a filmed “Meet the Press” interview with NBC journalist Kristen Welker on August 16, 2026. A clip of the full exchange is available on NBC’s YouTube page.
At 1:39, Jeffries states his position:
Reporter: Just to be very clear though, as a Democratic leader in the House, would you vote for or against Medicare for All?
Jeffries: I think as you’ve indicated in your question to me, it’s not legislation that I currently am co-sponsoring or that I support. But we do support the notion that we’ve got to find a path forward to fix our broken healthcare system and make healthcare affordable for every single American.
It is worth noting that “Medicare for All,” as a concept, represents many different proposals for a national health insurance program. Jeffries’ team did not directly respond on the record to an inquiry about whether he might support alternative versions of the Medicare for All proposal that are not currently being discussed in Congress.
OpenSecrets data on PAC donations misrepresented
The rumor about the amount of money Jeffries took from healthcare PACs appeared to originate with Notice News, which bills itself as a progressive independent news outlet. Notice News’ reporting misrepresented data shared on OpenSecrets, a credible finance and lobbying.
We reached out to Notice News to ask for more information about the outlet’s reporting process and will update this story if we hear back.
In a video posted by Notice News that spread the claim, the news outlet points to a screenshot of Jeffries’ OpenSecrets page as its
It appears that Notice News shared an accurate screenshot of a chart on Jeffries’ OpenSecrets page under “Industries,” which showed that Jeffries received about $321,250 from health-related PACs, which are labeled “Health.” The chart shows PAC contributions by sector and industry:
(OpenSecrets)
However, a closer look of the “Health” data on the “PACs” page indicated that these organizations represent a wide range of interests with varying views on and interest in Medicare for All
Only $52,500 of the $321,520 came from “HMOs,” or “Health Maintenance Organizations,” which provide a certain kind of private health insurance plan. That category includes companies like UnitedHealth Group, which oversees UnitedHealthcare. (Private health insurance companies represent the obvious opposition to a Medicare for All proposal, given that they would largely be replaced if the United States moved to a national health insurance system.)
(OpenSecrets, illustrated by Snopes)
Meanwhile, the American College of Physicians Services, which contributed $7,500 to Jeffries, is the advocacy arm of the American College of Physicians, whichsupports Medicare for All. In contrast, the American Hospital Association’s PAC, which contributed $10,000 to Jeffries, opposes Medicare for All.
Several of the PACs represent organizations that support universal healthcare but don’t have specific positions on Medicare for All, such as the American Academy of Family Physicians and the American College of Nurse-Midwives. Other PACs listed under “Health,” like the American Seniors Housing Association, are more focused on other parts of the health industry, like Alzheimer’s research or workforce shortages.
It’s also worth noting the “Health” category that Notice News used to back up its claim does not even include most PACs representing private health insurance. Health insurance companies that are not HMOs are included under the “Insurance” category, instead. Per OpenSecrets’ Insurance category for Jeffries, the House minority leader received $37,000 from non-HMO health and accident insurance companies’ PACs like Blue Cross Blue Shield.
That means that as of this writing, according to OpenSecrets, Jeffries has received $89,000 from private health and accident insurance companies during the 2025-26 midterm cycle. OpenSecrets also categorizes some contributions under “Ideology/Single-Issue,” which includes a section for “Health & welfare policy.” Jeffries received an additional $15,000 in PAC contributions under the Health & welfare policy section. It was unclear, however, whether any of those contributors held a strong position for or against Medicare for All.
The bottom line
There’s no evidence that Jeffries changed his position on Medicare for All in 2026 as a result of funding from the healthcare industry. Jeffries has not co-sponsored or actively supported Medicare for All legislation since House Democrats elected him to lead their caucus.
Furthermore, social media posts stating that Jeffries received over $300,000 from the healthcare industry don’t accurately represent how much money Jeffries has actually taken from PACs related to healthcare, nor do they accurately represent how much money Jeffries has taken from entities that oppose Medicare for All.
Sources
“About Open Secrets.”OpenSecrets, https://www.opensecrets.org/outside-spending. Accessed 18 Aug. 2026
“About – Congressman Hakeem Jeffries.”Congressman Hakeem Jeffries, https://jeffries.house.gov/about/. Accessed 18 Aug. 2026
ACNM Board of Directors. “Position Statement: Health Care for All Individuals and Families.”American College of Nurse-Midwives, 2004, https://legacy.midwife.org/acnm/files/acnmlibrarydata/uploadfilename/000000000069/PS%20Healthcare%20for%20all%20190927.pdf
“ACP Submits Statement to House Oversight and Reform Committee on Examining Pathways to Universal Health Care .”American College of Physicians, 29 Mar. 2022, https://www.acponline.org/sites/default/files/acp-policy-library/testimony/acp_submits_statement_to_house_oversight_and_reform_committee_on_examining_universal_health_care_march_2022.pdf
“ASHA Legislative / Regulatory Policy Agenda – American Seniors Housing Association.”American Seniors Housing Association, 12 Oct. 2023, https://ashaliving.org/advocacy-program/policy-agenda/
Crowley, Ryan, et al. “Envisioning a Better U.S. Health Care System for All: Coverage and Cost of Care.”Annals of Internal Medicine, vol. 172, no. 2, Jan. 2020, pp. 7–32, https://doi.org/10.7326/m19-2415
“Hakeem Jeffries.”OpenSecrets, 2026, https://www.opensecrets.org/profiles/hakeem-jeffries/us_congress/industries?mpid=1050304
———.OpenSecrets, 2026, https://www.opensecrets.org/profiles/hakeem-jeffries/us_congress/pacs?mpid=1050304
“Health Care for All: A Framework for Moving to a Primary Care-Based Health Care System in the United States.”AAFP, https://www.aafp.org/about/policies/health-care-for-all. Accessed 18 Aug. 2026
“Health Services/HMOs Summary.”OpenSecrets, 2026, https://www.opensecrets.org/industries/indus?ind=H03&cycle=2020
“Insurance Summary.”OpenSecrets, https://www.opensecrets.org/industries/indus?ind=F09. Accessed 18 Aug. 2026
“Medicare for All | AHA.”Www.Aha.Org, https://www.aha.org/medicare-all. Accessed 18 Aug. 2026
NBC News. “Hakeem Jeffries Says Medicare for All Is Not Legislation He Currently Supports.”YouTube, 16 Aug. 2026, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U78oxeGTcr4
News, PBS. “Compare Democrats’ Many Medicare-for-All Proposals With This Chart.”PBS News, 16 Jan. 2019, https://www.pbs.org/newshour/economy/making-sense/compare-democrats-many-medicare-for-all-proposals-with-this-chart
Rep. Conyers, John, Jr. [D-MI-13. “All Info – H.R.676 – 113Th Congress (2013-2014): Expanded & Improved Medicare for All Act.”Congress.Gov, 2026, https://www.congress.gov/bill/113th-congress/house-bill/676/all-info
Rep. Jayapal, Pramila [D-WA-7. “Cosponsors – H.R.1976 – 117Th Congress (2021-2022): Medicare for All Act Of 2021.”Congress.Gov, 2021, https://www.congress.gov/bill/117th-congress/house-bill/1976/cosponsors?s=2&r=14&hl=%22medicare+for+all%22
———. “Cosponsors – H.R.3069 – 119Th Congress (2025-2026): Medicare for All Act.”Congress.Gov, 2025, https://www.congress.gov/bill/119th-congress/house-bill/3069/cosponsors
U.S. House of Representatives Press Gallery. “Party Breakdown.”House Press Gallery, https://pressgallery.house.gov/member-data/party-breakdown. Accessed 18 Aug. 2026
By Rae Deng
Rae Deng specializes in government/politics and is based in Tacoma, Wash
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Article Tags
MoneyHealthMedicareLobbyingHealth CareHakeem Jeffries
