"The most glaring self-inflicted wound from Donald Trump's first term in office was his decision in 2017 to let Paul Ryan and other traditional Republicans push him into a futile war to repeal the Affordable Care Act. From Ryan's perspective, the decision made perfect sense: He and his allies despised the welfare state in general and the ACA in particular, and saw Trump's presidency as a final chance to destroy the hated law before its roots grew too deep."
"From Trump's perspective, the move was a fiasco. By dint of the threat to repeal it and take health insurance from millions of Americans, the ACA became more popular. The repeal effort exposed the hollowness of his grand promises to give everybody "terrific" insurance, and drove a midterm-election backlash that handed Democrats control of the House of Representatives. Eight years on, Trump has plainly failed to learn his lesson."
"His signature One Big Beautiful Bill Act, signed into law over the summer, already wreaks havoc on the country's health-care system by gutting Medicaid; it's expected to eliminate coverage for about 7.5 million people by 2034. The legislation also failed to extend pandemic-era subsidies, which are set to expire at the end of the year, for health insurance bought through ACA marketplaces. Without these subsidies, premiums will spike for about 20 million Americans-many of them small-business owners and self-employed workers-in January."
The 2017 push to repeal the Affordable Care Act backfired, raising ACA popularity and exposing empty promises while triggering a midterm backlash that gave Democrats the House. Recent legislation called the One Big Beautiful Bill Act cuts Medicaid and is projected to eliminate coverage for about 7.5 million people by 2034. Pandemic-era subsidies for ACA marketplace plans were not extended and are set to expire at year-end, threatening premium spikes for roughly 20 million Americans. Congressional refusal to include subsidies in budget negotiations has contributed to a prolonged federal shutdown and mounting political consequences for Republicans.
Read at The Atlantic
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