Americans’ top concern is the availability and affordability of health care. While Trump and Republicans continue their health care sabotage, Democrats are fighting to expand Medicaid and increase access to health care coverage.

MAINE: Yesterday, a court ordered Maine's Republican governor to move ahead with a ballot measure approved overwhelmingly by Maine voters to expand Medicaid to tens of thousands of residents.

New York Times: “Seven months after Maine voters approved a ballot measure to expand Medicaid to tens of thousands of additional residents, a state judge on Monday ordered Gov. Paul LePage’s administration to stop stonewalling and move ahead with the plan.”

VIRGINIA: Virginia lawmakers approved Medicaid expansion to roughly 400,000 low-income Virginians, after Democrats campaigned heavily on the issue and made unexpectedly large gains in November’s elections.

ABC News: “Democratic Gov. Ralph Northam's expected signature should enable roughly 400,000 newly eligible low-income Virginias to begin enrolling in Medicaid at the start of next year. […] But Republicans took notice when Democrats campaigned heavily on expanding Medicaid last year and made unexpectedly large gains, reshaping the state legislature in an anti-Trump wave.”

Up next: in NEBRASKA, UTAH, IDAHO Medicaid expansion continues to build momentum.

Nebraska: “Medicaid expansion petition drive rolls ahead in Nebraska”

Utah: “Medicaid expansion qualifies for ballot in Utah.”

Idaho: Advocates in Idaho also say they've collected enough signatures to get the expansion on the ballot. It would cover up to 62,000 people there.”

Meanwhile, Trump and Republican sabotage will increase health care premiums by double digits and lead to 3 million more uninsured Americans.

The Hill: “ObamaCare premiums are expected to rise an average of 15 percent next year, an increase largely due to the GOP’s repeal of the individual mandate, according to a Congressional Budget Office (CBO) analysis released Wednesday. […] CBO also projected that there will be three million more uninsured people between 2018 and 2019, largely due to the repeal of the individual mandate and higher premiums.”

The Trump administration has also proposed hundreds of billions of dollars in Medicaid cuts and other harmful changes to reduce access to Medicaid.

Vox: “The Trump proposal implements the deepest possible cuts for Medicaid and the Graham-Cassidy block grants, picking the lowest of the available growth rates (the regular Consumer Price Index, which is lower than the medical CPI) for the block grants. The net result is a $675 billion federal spending cut by 2028. That includes a $1.4 trillion cut to Medicaid (offset by spending on the block grants) after Trump promised during his presidential campaign not to cut the program.”