The American health care system is in a full-blown crisis after Donald Trump and Republicans passed the largest cuts to health care in history, and industry earnings calls are highlighting just how severe and widespread the damage is for everyday Americans. The calls make clear that GOP cuts are decimating plan choice, destroying competition, and hiking premiums for working families. Americans across the country are paying the price for Trump’s health care cuts.
 

Since the passage of the big, ugly bill, nearly 4.5 million Americans have lost their health coverage. Families are being forced to make impossible choices between paying for groceries or seeing a doctor. Hospitals are seeing a spike in uninsured patients, and insurers are being forced to pull out of markets altogether. The ripple effects of these cuts have catapulted health care to the number one issue in America. A recent Gallup Poll showed that “the availability and affordability of health care” topped the chart of American worries about key issues, ranking higher than the economy and inflation. Nationwide, Americans are living with the consequences Republicans set in motion.

Here is how Trump’s cuts are rippling through the industry and ripping care away from working Americans: 

  • Nearly a dozen insurers were forced to pull out of marketplaces across the country after Republicans eliminated the tax credits that made health care affordable for millions of small business owners, farmers, and older adults.
  • 14 percent of people enrolled in Marketplace plans were unable to afford their first payment after GOP premium hikes. Centene, the largest marketplace carrier, said its ACA membership is down two million from a year ago. 
  • Over one million Americans across 17 states were left scrambling for care when Aetna left the ACA marketplace. An additional 369,000 Americans across 11 states will soon face the same struggle after Cigna made a similar announcement last week.
  • Nearly 200,000 people in Michigan were affected when multiple insurers exited Michigan. 29,000 Mississippians were affected by the exit of Primewell Health Services. 17,000 Ohioans were affected by AultCare’s retreat. 11,000 Wyomingites were affected by Mountain Health Co-op’s retreat. Dozens of North Carolinians were affected when Celtic WellCare left North Carolina.
  • 100,000 Texans will be thrown from their coverage when Baylor Scott & White Health Plan leaves at the end of the year. Hoosiers relying on CareSource will also be forced to find new coverage.
  • “We may not yet know the full scope…The Q2 earnings season follows in July and August. Each of those moments is an opportunity for another insurer to announce what Cigna announced Thursday. The exits we know about may be the beginning, not the end.” according to health coverage expert Wendell Potter.