What has been referred to as President Obama’s legacy is on the chopping block in the new Republican Congress. The Affordable Care Act, more commonly known as Obamacare, is set to be either repealed or severely edited by the GOP now that they have an executive on their side and the road paved for their agenda.
The repeal of the ACA will cause millions of people to lose insurance coverage, and has been projected to have varying effects from state to state.
In a study done by WalletHub, Connecticut was reported to be the tenth most-affected state by the repeal of Obamacare. The study also showed that Connecticut would have the fourth highest potential economic impact due to repeal of premium tax credits and Medicaid expansion, the fifth highest growth in uncompensated care costs before 2021 and the eighth highest state for potential job losses due to the repeal of tax credits and Medicaid expansion.
“Americans across political parties are supportive of provisions that allow young adults to stay on their parents’ health plans until age 26, preventing insurance companies from denying insurance coverage due to pre-existing conditions, and eliminating out-of-pocket costs for preventive care and services,” said Timothy Callaghan, Assistant Professor at the School of Public Health at Texas A&M University.
College students specifically would be greatly affected if the provision allowing people under 26 to stay on their parents’ insurance was removed. Currently, 87% of Connecticut residents between 18-24 years old are covered on their parents’ plans because of Obamacare, according to Jill Gonzalez, analyst for WlletHub.
“Many college students and recent college graduates are still covered by their parents’ plans, directly because of the ACA,” Gonzalez said.
Other affects of the ACA repeal would be the increase in uninsured rate and the loss of jobs, both in Connecticut and nationwide.
“Connecticut would actually be most affected when it comes to the Gross State Product lost due to the repeal of premium tax credits and Medicaid expansion per 100,000 Residents, losing upwards of $633 million dollars from 2019 to 2023, the third biggest loss in the country,” Gonzalez said.
The economic loss to the state would be sizeable, not only in job, but in federal funds toward health care.
“Approximately 978 jobs in Connecticut will be lost after an ACA repeal. The state will lose about $340,430,680 in federal funds, and another $20,327,465 in state and local taxes,” Gonzalez said.
Rosa DeLauro, Representative from the Third District of Connecticut in the House of Representatives, which includes New Haven and West Haven, has been a strong opponent of the repeal of the Affordable Care Act, citing that it is a step backwards in health care policy and an abandonment of the middle class in America.
“We should be providing more Americans with health insurance, not fewer. We should be creating jobs, not eliminating them. This bill is a disgrace. It is a betrayal of the working families of this nation,” DeLauro said.
Virtually every Democrat in Congress has come out against the repeal of Obamacare, with the major argument that without a replacement, it would send the economy into chaos.
Republicans have not yet completed any meaningful processes in repealing the last president’s signature legislation, although it is on the top of their to-do list.