Dear MoveOn member,
Here’s a term you probably haven’t heard in a while: preexisting condition.
Until the Affordable Care Act (ACA) took effect in 2013, health insurance companies could jack up premiums or even deny us coverage because of preexisting conditions. Health insurers could also charge thousands of dollars more to insure women than men, kick our kids off our insurance when they turned 18, and other alarming practices.1
Now Donald Trump and Mike Johnson are preparing to destroy the ACA, put coverage of millions of people in jeopardy, and bring back these despicable practices.
Trump’s so-called Department of Government Efficiency has targeted the ACA and Medicaid for cuts to pay for his next $4 trillion tax giveaway to the ultra-wealthy.2 And House Speaker Johnson has said that attacking the ACA is a top priority for “massive changes” in Trump’s first 100 days in office.3
Experts predict that just ending the current tax subsidies in the ACA would cause everyone’s insurance premiums to rise as much as 79%.4 None of us should have to pay nearly double for our health insurance so that the 1% can get another tax cut.
We need to gear up for a huge fight on health care that will begin on Day 1 of Trump’s presidency. Will you donate $5 a month to MoveOn to help fight day in and day out for as long as it takes to save and strengthen the Affordable Care Act?
No, I’m sorry, I can’t make a monthly donation.
Since the shooting of the UnitedHealthcare CEO in December, thousands of people have been sharing their health insurance horror stories.5 From lifesaving procedures denied to bankruptcies from buying medicine, we all know someone who has been hurt by the likes of billion-dollar companies like Blue Cross Blue Shield and Aetna.
No one is saying that our health care system isn’t seriously broken. But the fact is that Trump and his MAGA party have no other plan to fix it besides “using the free market.”6 And we’ve been through the horror of the unregulated insurance industry before.
Before the ACA passed, 1 in 5 Americans had no health insurance.7 Thousands of lives were needlessly lost every year before the ACA’s Medicaid expansion.8
We can’t go back. Since President Biden’s subsidy expansion in 2021, the number of uninsured Americans has dropped to its lowest levels in history. But if just that subsidy expansion is allowed to expire this year, premiums will triple for ACA policyholders. That will cause healthy people to go without—and end up raising all of our premiums, whether we are in the marketplace or not.9
The Affordable Care Act affects us all. Please donate $5 a month to help save it!
No, I’m sorry, I can’t make a monthly donation.
When Trump was first inaugurated in 2017, he came within just one vote of repealing the Affordable Care Act.
However, we have a big advantage this time around.
In 2017, the ACA was relatively new, and more people disapproved of the law than approved of it. Now, even Republicans think the ACA is good for our country, and 62% of people believe the government is responsible for making sure all Americans have coverage.10
And 80% of all people taking part in ACA marketplace insurance plans are from states that voted for Trump.11
That’s why it’s so important that we sound the alarm about the incoming attack on the ACA and what we could be facing if Trump and his MAGA Congress meddle with the law. We need to get to work right now. Can we count on your ongoing support?
No, I’m sorry, I can’t make a monthly donation.
Thanks for all you do.
–Nakia, Allison, Emma, Gabi, and the rest of the team
Sources:
1. “10 Ways the ACA Has Improved Health Care in the Past Decade,” Center for American Progress, March 23, 2020
https://www.americanprogress.org/article/10-ways-aca-improved-health-care-past-decade/
2. “Trump could target Affordable Care Act and Medicaid to help pay for lower taxes, experts say,” CBS News, December 17, 2024
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/trump-medicaid-aca-obamacare-affordable-care-act-tax-cuts/
3. “House Speaker Mike Johnson criticizes Obamacare and promises ‘massive reform’ if Trump wins,” NBC News, October 30, 2024
https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/congress/speaker-johnson-criticizes-obamacare-promises-massive-reform-trump-win-rcna177853
4. “Trump could target Affordable Care Act and Medicaid to help pay for lower taxes, experts say,” CBS News, December 17, 2024
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/trump-medicaid-aca-obamacare-affordable-care-act-tax-cuts/
5. “After a shocking shooting, Americans vent feelings about health insurance,” NPR, December 6, 2024
https://www.npr.org/sections/shots-health-news/2024/12/06/nx-s1-5217736/brian-thompson-unitedhealthcare-ceo-social-media
6. “Vast Majority of Obamacare Applications From Trump-Voting States,” Newsweek, December 26, 2024
https://www.newsweek.com/most-obamacare-applicants-donald-trump-states-2006228
7. “Affordable Care Act – Statistics & Facts,” Statista, February 28, 2024
https://www.statista.com/topics/3272/obamacare/
8. “Medicaid Expansion Has Saved at Least 19,000 Lives, New Research Finds,” Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, November 6, 2019
https://www.cbpp.org/research/health/medicaid-expansion-has-saved-at-least-19000-lives-new-research-finds
9. “Trump could target Affordable Care Act and Medicaid to help pay for lower taxes, experts say,” CBS News, December 17, 2024
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/trump-medicaid-aca-obamacare-affordable-care-act-tax-cuts/
10. “More in U.S. See Health Coverage as Government Responsibility,” Gallup, December 9, 2024
https://news.gallup.com/poll/654101/health-coverage-government-responsibility.aspx
11. “Vast Majority of Obamacare Applications From Trump-Voting States,” Newsweek, December 26, 2024
https://www.newsweek.com/most-obamacare-applicants-donald-trump-states-2006228
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