Last updated on July 17th, 2023 at 09:38 pm
A new study found that 3 million Americans who live in red states are receiving subsidies to help pay for their health insurance, but once Donald Trump and the Republican congressional majority repeal Obamacare, these people will most likely not be able to afford insurance.
A prime example of people voting against their own self-interest can be found in the latestKaiser Family Foundation study showing how many people in each state are getting subsidies for their health insurance.
Greg Sargent of The Washington Post added up the numbers for people in red states, “In red states, a total of at least 3 million people are currently getting subsidies. This doesn’t include the swing states that Donald Trump won. If you add those in, that swells the total to over six million people.”
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The fact that three million people are going to lose their health insurance after the ACA is repealed, just in red states, is why Republicans are intending to rush through a repeal bill while delaying replacement of the ACA for years. It is no accident that Republicans are punting on replacing Obamacare for exactly three years. Congressional Republicans don’t want to face the wrath of voters who lost their health insurance in the 2018 midterm election, so they pushed it back.
The problem is that Republicans have pushed it back to the 2020 presidential election. Does anyone believe that they will be able to pass a replacement bill in the heat of a presidential election campaign? The answer to that question is no.
Republicans don’t want to be blamed for taking away health insurance from millions, and they still haven’t figured out what they could replace Obamacare with. If Republicans do repeal the ACA and don’t replace it, millions of Americans, many of whom in red states voted for Trump, will lose their health insurance.
Red state residents voted for Trump thinking that they were making America great again. Instead, they may have screwed themselves out of affordable health insurance.
By electing Trump, red state voters may have committed the ultimate act of self-sabotage.
Jason is the managing editor. He is also a White House Press Pool and a Congressional correspondent for PoliticusUSA. Jason has a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science. His graduate work focused on public policy, with a specialization in social reform movements.
Awards and Professional Memberships
Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and The American Political Science Association
