States’ Uninsured Rates Increase For First Time Since ACA Implementation

New data released today from Gallup and Sharecare shows how Trump and Republicans’ health care sabotage has already left more Americans uninsured. See for yourself:

 

The uninsured rate increased in states last year for the first time since the ACA’s implementation:

 

  • The uninsured rate rose in 17 states last year, the first time any state had an increase since the full implementation of the major provisions of the Affordable Care Act in 2014.

 

  • For the first time since 2013, no state had a lower uninsured rate than it had in the previous year.

 

The increase in the uninsured rate is a result of Trump and Republicans’ health care sabotage:

 

  • Trump sabotaged the ACA open enrollment period: “The open enrollment period for 2018 was characterized by a significant reduction in public marketing and a shortened enrollment period of under seven weeks, about half as long as previous periods. Insurers, in turn, have increasingly withdrawn from the ACA exchanges, resulting in fewer choices and less competition in many states.”

 

  • Trump and Republicans repeatedly tried to repeal the ACA: “Other potential factors include political forces that may have increased uncertainty surrounding the ACA marketplace. Numerous high-profile attempts were made to repeal and replace the plan.”

 

  • Trump and Republicans eliminated the ACA’s individual mandate:“… the elimination of the ACA's individual mandate penalty as a part of the tax reform plan signed into law in December 2017 could result in reducing participation in the insurance marketplace in future open enrollment periods.”

 

  • Trump ended cost-sharing reduction payments: “President Donald Trump's decision in October 2017 to end cost-sharing reduction payments could also potentially result in the uninsured rate rising further. The cost-sharing payments have been made to insurers in the marketplace exchanges to offset some of their costs for offering lower-cost plans to lower-income Americans.”