It has been nine days since a gunman opened fire on Republican members of Congress during an early-morning baseball practice in Northern Virginia, nearly killing House Majority Whip Steve Scalise.

Scalise was only struck once, far from his most vital organs, but the bullet traversed his hip, shattering bones and unleashing concussive forces that caused severe internal bleeding and organ damage. When he was medevaced off the field, he was reportedly conscious and in good spirits. By the time he arrived at MedStar Washington Hospital Center, in the District of Columbia, he was in critical condition: unconscious, and on the brink of death.

On Wednesday, after three surgeries and a week of intensive hospital care, doctors upgraded Scalise’s condition to fair, and said he is “beginning an extended period of healing and rehabilitation.” The additional good news—such that any of this news can be described as “good”—is that Scalise is medically insured.

Before the implementation of the Affordable Care Act, members of Congress were insured through the Federal Employees Health Benefit Plan, but the ACA removed them from that system, and allowed them to spend their employer-provided health insurance subsidies in D.C.’s small-business exchange instead. Not every member of Congress took the government up on this offer. Some chose to pay full freight for insurance in their home-state market places. Others joined their spouse’s employer-provided plans. But uninsurance is not a widespread problem for people who work on Capitol Hill, which means Scalise will likely be spared the second-most horrifying consequence of his injuries: the financial cost.

Through no fault of his own, Scalise has just incurred hundreds of thousands, if not millions of dollars in medical expenses. And while he may ultimately be responsible for a tiny, tiny, tiny fraction of these costs, he and his Republican colleagues in Congress are, as he convalesces, attempting to expose millions of Americans to the kind of financial ruin he has so far avoided.