In First Year of Republican Tax Law, 5 Million Lose Insurance

TUCSON — In the first year of Ciscomani and Schweikert's Republican Tax Law, 5 million more people have lost access to insurance coverage.

The Republican Tax Law made massive cuts to Medicaid and failed to extend cost-saving health insurance tax credits that helped Americans afford private health care coverage. At the same time, the law gave massive tax breaks to the wealthy and corporations.

According to NBC News:

“The Congressional Budget Office, a nonpartisan federal agency that provides economic and budget analysis to Congress, estimated last year that there would be roughly 15 million more uninsured people by 2034 due to the Medicaid cuts and expiring subsidies.

“We’re already at 5 million,” said Brad Woodhouse, executive director of Protect Our Care. “This is going to get worse.”

The report found that enrollment in Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program, or CHIP — a sister program for children — fell by about 3.8 million people since last June, and enrollment in ACA plans declined by about 1.2 million.

Before this year, ACA enrollment had been rising steadily for several years, reaching a record 22.3 million sign-ups last year. Medicaid enrollment surged during the pandemic, but began falling in 2023 after states started rolling back pandemic-era protections.

The states that saw the largest declines in enrollment were Indiana, Louisiana, Arizona, Rhode Island and Delaware.”

“Arizonans are demanding access to affordable health care, yet Congressmen Ciscomani and Schweikert voted to make health care less affordable and less accessible,” said Andrea Moreno, Executive Director of Honest Arizona. “It's time for Schweikert and Ciscomani to acknowledge the harm they've caused reverse course, instead of continuing to make Arizonans' lives worse off and more expensive.”

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