A survey conducted by the Commonwealth Fund found that close to 4 million Americans have lost their health insurance since Donald Trump became president.
Since 2016, the rate of uninsured people who bring in an individual income of about $30,000 and a family income of about $61,000 jumped significantly. As The Hill points out, a significant amount of those newly uninsured people were Republicans.
The survey interviewed 2,403 adults ranging in age from 19-64 and found that the uninsured rate for Republicans rose from 7.9 percent in 2016 to 13.9 in March of 2018. The amount of uninsured Democrats remained unchanged from 2016 at 9.1 percent.
From The Hill:
About 60 percent of all adults surveyed said they were aware that the GOP tax bill included a repeal of the individual mandate penalty, and 9 percent of people who get their insurance through the individual market said they were planning to drop coverage as a result.
The survey attributed the drop to the Trump administration’s failure to shore up weaknesses in the Affordable Care Act, along with the repeal of the individual mandate and allowing insurance companies to offer short-term plans that don’t cover pre-existing conditions.
Additionally, the Trump administration cut the advertising budget for Obamacare by 90 percent and also cut funds to local groups tasked with helping people sign up for coverage.
The survey’s findings provided Democrats with plenty of new talking points.
“Americans have had enough of Republicans making their health care more expensive,” Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee spokesman David Bergstein said. “The GOP’s sabotage of the health insurance system is having real, adverse impacts on middle class Americans — voters know who is to blame and they’ll hold every Republican Senate candidate accountable for making their care less accessible and more expensive.”
Featured image via Gage Skidmore (Flickr)
