From Coast to Coast, the GOP Health Care Affordability Crisis Leaves No American Unscathed
Washington, D.C. — Today, Protect Our Care is releasing a new report unearthing the Trump-GOP premium disaster in 46 states. After spearheading the longest shutdown in U.S. history to terminate Affordable Care Act (ACA) tax credits, Trump and Republicans are doubling down on their quest to hike premium costs for over 21 million Americans — all to fund the GOP’s billionaire tax breaks. Now, millions of Americans caught in the Trump-GOP premium disaster are experiencing what no one ever should: They are logging onto the ACA Marketplace for open enrollment and seeing firsthand how their health care premiums are doubling, tripling, and even quadrupling.
Protect Our Care’s report draws on real marketplace examples from every corner of the country, exposing the massive monthly and annual GOP premium hikes hitting American families. Republicans manufactured this crisis — and they could end it by restoring the ACA tax credits they ripped away from hard-working people.
“Republicans act like sky-high premiums are just a problem on a spreadsheet, but tell that to the Georgian scrambling to schedule surgery before the year’s end, the Floridian choosing between putting food on the table or keeping a roof over their head, or the Texan having to shut their small business down,” said Protect Our Care President Brad Woodhouse. “Behind every number in this report is a real person whose life the GOP is devastating. And the cruelest part? Thousands of Americans will die preventable deaths because Republicans hiked costs beyond reach and left millions without life-saving, affordable coverage. Congressional Republicans can spin it, deny it, or pretend it’s not happening — but the suffering is real and Americans see right through it.”
Report Key Points:
Here’s a closer look at what’s in store if Republicans get their way:
Couples Nearing Retirement Will Suffer:
- A 60-year-old couple making $85,000 a year in Key Largo, Florida, will be forced to pay $4,801 more a month and $57,613 more a year — more than two-thirds of their annual income — to stay on the same health plan next year.
- A 60-year-old couple making $85,000 a year in Carbondale, Illinois, will be forced to pay $5,020 more a month and $60,244 more a year — more than two-thirds of their annual income — to stay on the same health plan next year.
- A 60-year-old couple making $85,000 a year in Chesterfield, West Virginia, will be forced to pay $3,882 more a month and $46,487 more a year — more than half their annual income — to stay on the same health plan next year.
- A 60-year-old couple making $85,000 a year in Sheridan, Wyoming, will pay $4,135 more a month and $49,621 more a year — more than half their annual income — to stay on the same health plan next year.
Middle-Class Families Will Suffer:
- A middle-class family of four in Key Largo, Florida, will be forced to pay $3,172 more a month and $38,065 more a year — nearly one-third of their annual income — to stay on the same health plan next year.
- A middle-class family of four in Carbondale, Illinois, will be forced to pay $3,220 more a month and $38,642 more a year — nearly one-third of their annual income — to stay on the same health plan next year.
- A middle-class family of four in Charlestown, West Virginia, will be forced to pay $2,455 more a month and $29,461 more a year — nearly a quarter of their annual income — to stay on the same health plan next year.
- A middle-class family of four in Sheridan, Wyoming, will be forced to pay $2,659 more a month and $31,905 more a year — nearly a quarter of their annual income – to stay on the same health plan next year.