We’re paying more and now 3.5 million more Americans are uninsured
Andy Slavitt loves seeing Americans gain health insurance, and since 2014, he’s had a lot of reasons to be happy..
Slavitt stepped in to save HealthCare.gov in the midst of a crisis of technology and crisis that threatened the Affordable Care Act. By the end of the enrollment period, the site was up and running. President Obama picked him to run Obamacare along with the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. By the end of Obama’s second term, the uninsured rate was continually hitting record lows.
And then Donald Trump came into office.
On his inauguration day, he took the first of his many steps to discourage Americans from gaining health insurance. We’ve spared America from Full Trumpcare, his biggest attempt at gutting the law AND Medicaid, but elections and sabotage have consequences.
A new Gallup survey released Friday shows a marked uptick in the number of Americans without health insurance since the Trump administration took office—a reversal after years of decline and a historic record low under the Obama administration.
To put this into raw numbers:
3.5 million Americans that have lost insurance since Trump became President.
— Andy Slavitt (@ASlavitt) October 20, 2017
From Romneycare we have some idea of the affect health insurance has on preventing death. In 2014, Vox reported:
The new Harvard study estimates that for every 830 people the Massachusetts insurance expansion covered, one additional life was saved. This was a 2.9 percent decrease in the mortality rate compared to similar counties that did not have insurance expansions.
So not only are we paying more — ACASignups’s Charles Gaba estimates rates are about 30 percent higher, thanks to sabotage from Trump’s GOP — more Americans could be dying.
How many? Based on the Romneycare numbers, about 4,200, which reminds me of something Jon Cryer tweeted:
So, nine months into his administration, Trump has already had his Benghazi, his Watergate and his Katrina.
I’m terrified of his 9/11. https://t.co/CPQW1JCh58
— Jon of the Dead (@MrJonCryer) October 18, 2017
What can you do about it? Join the fight to get our friends, family and neighbors insured because Trump won’t. Retweet this and then click the link to get started:
JUST OUT: Interested in doing the job Trump won't to #GetUSCovered ?
An awesome enrollment toolkit: https://t.co/1zgZgVVHHQ
Please spread.
— Andy Slavitt (@ASlavitt) October 18, 2017
