New polling today from Morning Consult shows that a majority of voters disapprove by a massive 20-point margin of Washington Republicans’ move to keep enrollment in the Affordable Care Act’s federal health insurance marketplace closed. That reckless political decision is not just “unpopular” — it’s making it even harder for Americans who urgently need health coverage because they have been laid off in the middle of a public health crisis. Health care is emerging again as a “massive political liability” for Republicans this cycle, and its importance to voters is also hitting its highest point since the summer of 2017 when the toxic push to dismantle the Affordable Care Act failed in the Senate.
Last week, unemployment insurance claims climbed to nearly 10 million over the past two weeks and an estimated 3.5 million Americans and counting likely lost their health insurance, according to one data analysis — over one-third of the people who filed unemployment claims. Opening the marketplace would remove unnecessary hurdles for uninsured Americans to obtain the coverage and care they need.
One factor in the administration’s decision to refuse to reopen ACA enrollment in the middle of an escalating pandemic was “the president’s support for a federal lawsuit that would overturn the entire law” – a lawsuit Senate Republicans enabled. Every single Republican incumbent and candidate has either voted to repeal the health care law or expressed support for tearing it down. No GOP senators have taken meaningful action to stop the Republican lawsuit that would overturn the ACA and wipe away its protections, or to push the president to open a special enrollment period.
Morning Consult: Trump’s Decision to Keep Obamacare Exchanges Closed Is Unpopular
By a 20-point margin, voters disapprove of Trump’s choice not to reopen health insurance exchanges
By Eli Yokley
April 8, 2020
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