Rise of the Uninsured

What to Know: Fewer Americans can afford health insurance.

“The number of Americans without health insurance increased again in 2018, the second consecutive year that figure has risen after several years of declines under Obamacare, a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention survey shows,” USA Today reports. “About 30.4 million Americans did not have health insurance in 2018, up from 29.3 million in 2017, according to the CDC’s National Health Interview Survey. That means about 1.1 million more Americans lost insurance coverage last year.”

The TPPF Take: Even as more people need insurance—and more affordable insurance—Democrats in Congress are working to make it harder to purchase plans that meet families’ needs.

“Just a few days ago, Democrats passed a bill that would kick hundreds of thousands of Americans off their insurance plans,” says TPPF’s David Balat. “The bill would prohibit the kind of short-term plans that many Americans choose simply because they can afford them and the plans meet their present needs. Democrats want to take away that choice, even if the result is more uninsured Americans—the justification for the Affordable Care Act in the first place.”

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