Washington, D.C. – A new report released today during Black History Month finds that Donald Trump and Republican policies are actively worsening health outcomes for Black Americans, widening long-standing disparities in access to care and affordability. The report is authored by Protect Our Care, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), the National Council of Negro Women (NCNW), and the National Urban League (NUL).
First reported on Roland Martin Unfiltered, the new report details how more than $1 trillion in cuts to Medicaid and the Affordable Care Act (ACA), combined with the ending of the health care tax credits and rollbacks of public health funding, are hitting Black communities hardest — threatening coverage, closing hospitals, and driving up preventable illness and death.
“The evidence is obvious. The Trump Administration is actively seeking to create a system of medical apartheid,” said Derrick Johnson, President and CEO of the NAACP. “Trump is Making Americans Sick Again, Black people in particular. From gutting Medicaid and defunding ACA tax credits to sabotaging vaccines and research, this policy violence is a sustained attack on the health and economic security of Black America. In just one year in office, this administration has worked to undo decades of progress, all because of its policy of cruelty towards Black people. As the midterm elections draw closer, the NAACP will continue to remind Americans of this dangerous political agenda and encourage them to vote to protect themselves and their families.”
“You cannot solve a problem you refuse to name,” said NCNW President and CEO Shavon Arline-Bradley. “When words like ‘health disparity,’ ‘Black maternal health,’ and ‘racism’ are treated as political threats instead of public health realities, it sends a chilling message about whose lives are worth studying and whose suffering is worth ignoring. Silencing the language of equity does not erase inequity. It deepens it. Black communities deserve research rooted in truth, policies grounded in science, and leaders courageous enough to confront racism head on. Anything less is a deliberate decision to accept preventable pain and preventable death. This is why this report is so important and timely to be released.”
“This year’s Black History Month marks the 100th year of honoring hard-fought Black achievements,” said President and CEO of the National Urban League Marc H. Morial. “This milestone also comes amid a growing healthcare crisis. Recent attacks on Medicaid and Medicare, the expiration of ACA premium credits, hospital closures, and rising healthcare costs are deepening long-standing barriers for millions of Black Americans. Black history has always been about resilience, and that fight continues today. Access to quality healthcare can mean the difference between life and death. The National Urban League remains committed to building pathways toward equitable care and ensuring Black Americans can live healthy, thriving lives.”
“This Black History Month, we should be confronting how far we still have to go to achieve health equity, not reversing the progress communities have fought so hard for,” said Protect Our Care Chair Leslie Dach. “Donald Trump and Republicans are pulling the rug out from under families who need care the most with policies that disproportionately harm Black Americans. Their choices threaten coverage for millions, drive up health care costs, and put hospitals and clinics in Black communities at risk — with consequences measured in preventable illness and lost lives.”
Among the report’s key findings:
- Medicaid and ACA cuts disproportionately harm Black Americans
- Black people will likely experience the largest increase in uninsured after Republicans ended the ACA health care tax credits that helped keep coverage affordable.
- Black families make up about 20 percent of Medicaid enrollees and will have a much greater risk of losing coverage than their white counterparts.
- Hospital closures and service reductions are accelerating in communities with large Black populations, reducing access to lifesaving care.
- Over 20 percent of all hospitals at risk of closure are within the five states where 42 percent of Black Americans reside.
- Rollbacks of equity-focused public health initiatives undermine efforts to address racial disparities in maternal health, chronic disease, and life expectancy.