Republicans Are Targeting the ACA in Their Quest to Hand Out Tax Breaks to Billionaires and Big Corporations
The Republican spending bill not only makes the largest cuts to Medicaid in history, it dismantles the Affordable Care Act (ACA) as we know it. By raising costs for millions, making it harder to enroll, and chipping away at the ACA’s core provisions, Republicans are raising premiums and out-of-pocket costs for tens of millions of people who buy coverage on their own. In total, the GOP tax scam will throw 14 million people off their coverage, including seniors, children, middle- and low-income families, people with disabilities, people fighting cancer, and so many more. Headlines confirm that this coverage loss is nearing levels not seen since the 2017 ACA repeal effort, but Republicans are trying to go unnoticed in their relentless war on health care.
MSNBC: It’s Not Just Medicaid: Republicans’ Megabill Would Sabotage the Affordable Care Act
- “Larry Levitt, executive vice president for health policy at KFF, describing the real-world effects of the GOP megabill, added, “They’re not calling this ACA repeal and replace, but the coverage losses would be among many of the same people who would have lost their insurance under ACA repeal…” Perhaps most importantly, the Republican plan would end the expanded ACA tax credit subsidies that made coverage far more affordable for consumers throughout the Biden era — a move that would, according to Congressional Budget Office estimates, leave roughly 5 million Americans uninsured.”
The Washington Post: Republicans Are Trying to Repeal Obamacare Again. Sort Of.
- “Congressional Republicans are pursuing changes to the Affordable Care Act that would mean 10.7 million fewer Americans using its insurance marketplaces and Medicaid, a huge reduction that some view as a way to accomplish part of the health-care coverage cancellation that failed in 2017.”
Axios: How the GOP Megabill May Roll Back the Affordable Care Act
- “The bill that passed the House before Memorial Day includes an overhaul of ACA marketplaces that would result in coverage losses for millions of Americans and savings to help cover the cost of extending President Trump’s tax cuts. It comes after a growth spurt that saw ACA marketplace enrollment reach new highs, with more than 24 million people enrolling for 2025, according to KFF. The House’s changes would likely reverse that trend, unless the Senate goes in a different direction when it picks up the bill next week.”
STAT: ACA Reforms in the GOP’s Tax Bill Were Little-Noticed. That Might Change
- “As Republicans backed off Medicaid cuts, though, they turned to ACA marketplace policies to look for spending cuts. The nonpartisan and policy research firm KFF says the number of people with marketplace plans could shrink by about 8 million — about what’s expected in Medicaid coverage losses… The expiration of enhanced premium subsidies could further reduce enrollment via ACA marketplace plans by 4.4 million, according to Trump administration estimates.”
Rolling Stone: Trump’s Tax Bill Would Decimate the Affordable Care Act
- “Republicans plan to allow for the expiration of subsidies that help people afford individual health insurance plans, a move that would lead to a steep rise in prices for Americans who purchase coverage through the ACA marketplace. The version of the reconciliation bill passed Thursday by the House of Representatives would also prohibit passive reenrollment for ACA plan users who receive financial assistance, increase penalties for incorrect reporting of income, place further restrictions on enrollment periods, and create new bureaucratic hurdles to obtaining premium tax credits in ways that experts say will cause many to forgo or lose coverage.”
CNBC: House Republican Tax Bill Skipped ACA credits — Marketplace Health Insurance Will Get Pricier Without Them
- “But the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act” is missing something health care advocates hoped to see: an extension of the insurance premium tax credits under the enhanced Affordable Care Act that are set to expire at the end of the year. The credits’ absence is notable as the bill includes other proposed changes to the ACA marketplace, experts say… “Pretty much everyone, almost everybody who’s buying their own health insurance, now would see their costs go up,” Cox said.”
STAT: Projected Number of Uninsured From GOP’s Bill is Nearing Levels Not Seen Since ACA Repeal Effort
- “The funding cuts and the failure to extend ACA-related credits, taken together, would mean that at least 13.7 million stand to lose coverage in the coming decade under Republicans’ health care agenda, according to KFF, which based its calculation on preliminary projections by the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office. Those coverage loss projections are expected to be higher once the official score of the legislation is ready, the CBO said, and ACA reforms in the separate Ways and Means Committee’s reconciliation bill are also expected to lead to higher numbers of uninsured. If nearly 14 million people lost coverage over the coming decade, that could push the number of uninsured in the U.S. close to pre-ACA levels, according to Larry Levitt, KFF executive vice president for health policy.”