With New Unemployment Claims Now Rising to 16 Million, GOP’s Reckless Decision to Keep Special Enrollment Closed Threatens to Hurt Millions More

Will Senate Republicans Ever Stand Up to Trump Administration’s Move to Make it Harder to Obtain Health Care Amid a Public Health and Economic Crisis?

According to new data today from the U.S. Labor Department, the number of new people claiming unemployment insurance totals a staggering record of 16 million over the past three weeks. By those numbers, the nation has lost roughly 10% of its workforce in less than a month. Despite the massive continuing rise in Americans who have lost their jobs because of this public health crisis, the Trump administration is still standing by its reckless decision to keep enrollment in the Affordable Care Act’s federal health insurance marketplace closed.

That choice is not only making it more difficult and burdensome for Americans scrambling to get health care now because they have been laid off in the middle of the coronavirus pandemic — it’s also deeply unpopular. New polling this week from Morning Consult found that voters disapprove by a massive 20-point margin of Washington Republicans’ stance against reopening the federal exchange for millions of uninsured Americans.

One top reason behind the Trump administration’s decision to refuse to reopen ACA enrollment in the middle of an escalating pandemic has been “the president’s support for a federal lawsuit that would overturn the entire law” – a lawsuit that 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.

“This irresponsible decision by Republicans in Washington to make it more difficult to get critical health coverage in the middle of a public health crisis is making it harder for people when they need help the most,” said DSCC spokesperson Stewart Boss. “What will it take for Republican senators to put politics aside, stand up to the administration, and start putting the health and safety of their constituents ahead of their own self-serving political agenda in Washington?”

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