Speaking in Cincinnati on Wednesday, President Trump continued his attack on the Affordable Care Act, declaring that “Obamacare is in a total death spiral.”
The day before, Anthem, the nation’s second largest health insurer, announced it is pulling out of Ohio’s insurance marketplace. Trump seized on this news. “Nineteen thousand people will have no plans,” he said. (The actual number of people who will be left without an insurance carrier is closer to 10,500.) “What a mess,” he added.
In its explanation for why it was exiting the Ohio insurance exchange, Anthem placed much of the blame on the federal government, citing “continual changes in federal operations, rules and guidance.” The Trump administration has suggested it will slash deductible and co-pay subsidies, which allow poor Americans to pay for out-of-pocket medical costs.
Trump praised the House for passing the American Health Care Act, and called on the Senate, which is currently working on its own version of the bill, “to act and save Americans from a catastrophic event.” He had less kind words for Senate Democrats, labeling them “obstructionists.”
“We won’t get one Democratic vote,” he said. “If I were in that party, I’d be doing positive things.”
A CBO report found that if the House’s bill were to become law, it would leave 23 million more Americans uninsured with a decade.
