UPDATE: Over Eight Million Americans Have Now Lost Coverage In the Year Following Trump-GOP Health Care Cuts

Donald Trump and Republicans’ health care crisis is only getting worse. New Affordable Care Act (ACA) enrollment data released by the Trump administration now shows that actual enrollment has plunged even deeper, dropping by 4.2 million as of February 2026 compared to last year’s early year snapshot. With an estimated 3.8 million Americans losing Medicaid/CHIP over the same period, a mind-boggling eight million Americans have now lost health care coverage after Trump and the GOP passed the largest health care cuts in history to bankroll tax breaks for billionaires and big corporations — a sum that eclipses the populations of all but 13 states, approaches the size of New York City, and continues to grow every day.

And this is only the beginning. By slashing Medicaid, Republicans put lifesaving care at risk for seniors in nursing homes and sick kids. They also voted to take away tax credits from working families, causing health insurance premiums to more than double. In total, 15 million people are going to lose their health care because Republicans put billionaires first.

Over Eight Million Americans Lost Coverage In the Year Following Trump-GOP Health Care Cuts

• Donald Trump and Republicans in Congress have made the largest health care cuts to Medicaid in history. Republicans gutted around $1 trillion from Medicaid alone last July. In June 2025, 80.8 million Americans were enrolled in Medicaid and CHIP. According to the most recent enrollment numbers released by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services and state agencies, 76.9 million Americans are now enrolled in Medicaid and CHIP — an estimated coverage loss of over 3.8 million Medicaid/CHIP enrollees.
• Families across the country are being crushed by GOP-driven sticker shock. Last November, premiums more than doubled for around 22 million families because Trump and Republicans took away the tax credits that helped millions afford coverage, plunging the country into a health care affordability crisis. In early 2025, an estimated 23.4 million Americans bought affordable health insurance on their own through the ACA and had an active policy. The latest numbers released by the Trump administration show that just 19.2 million Americans have an active policy as of February 2026 — an estimated coverage loss of nearly 4.2 million.
• This is just the beginning of the coverage loss. Millions more will lose coverage once deeper cuts go into effect. The coverage loss we’re seeing now likely reflects skyrocketing premiums from GOP elimination of enhanced premium tax credits, the red tape created by the overturn of multiple rules that were designed to expand access to Medicaid and mitigate coverage loss from the unwinding of pandemic-era policies, and other eligibility restrictions that have already taken effect. The latest ACA coverage estimates are current only as of February 2026, and enrollment will likely continue to deteriorate as working families confront the true scale of skyrocketing ACA premiums throughout 2026. Next year, coverage losses will accumulate even more from work requirements, redeterminations, and the downstream effects of other cuts.

Sources: Georgetown University Center for Children and Families analysis of Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, accessed 6/17/26; Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Effectuated Enrollment Early Year Snapshot for 2025 and 2026.