21 million more nonelderly Americans will be without health insurance in 2020 and 24 million more will be without insurance than under Obamacare in 2026, if Trumpcare is adopted. The Republicans will tell you that this growth in the uninsured will be largely due to Americans opting not to have health insurance. In other words, people will be uninsured because they choose to be uninsured; they are exercising the FREEDOM of choice that was taken away from them by Obamacare.
That's not true.
The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) says that:
42% of the uninsured in 2020 and 58% of the uninsured in 2026 will be people who are kicked off Medicaid by cuts in Medicaid funding due to Trumpcare and can't afford to buy individual insurance even with the subsidies Trumpcare offers. Remember, low income Americans are the ones who lose the most in subsidies under Trumpcare.
Another 33% of uninsured Americans in 2020 and 26% in 2026, will lose their insurance because their employer who under Obamacare would have been required to provide health insurance to their workers stop offering group insurance as they are allowed under Trumpcare. Again, most of these will be low income employees who will find that the Trumpcare subsidies will not be enough to make insurance affordable to them in the private market.
Most of the remaining uninsured will be low income people who would like to be insured but can't find affordable insurance even with the subsidies Trumpcare offers. Again remember, Trumpcare does not base subsidies on need. Age is the only criteria. And, the older you are and the poorer you are the less these subsidies help in offsetting your premiums.
BOTTOM LINE: Don't buy the Republican crap about the uninsured being Americans exercising their freedom of choice. That's bunk. MOST OF THE AMERICANS IN 2020 AND 2026 WHO ARE UNINSURED WILL NOT BE EXERCISING FREEDOM OF CHOICE. THEY WILL BE VICTIMS OF TRUMPCARE. An unknown number of these Americans will die due to lack access to medical care because Trump was elected and the Republicans obtained control of both Houses of Congress.
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