A new analysis by a progressive health care think tank says Utah will see just over 200,000 residents lose their health care insurance under both the GOP House and Senate reform plans.
ACAsignups.net says 208,400 Utahns, including the elderly, adults and children, will lose their health coverage under the U.S. House’s Obamacare “repeal and replace” bill that passed several weeks ago.
The new GOP Senate version has not yet been analyzed by the group – it just was made public several days ago — but as publicized last week (it is still undergoing revisions) would not greatly decrease the number of citizens who would lose their health care.
As it stands Wednesday, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky, had to postpone a scheduled vote on the bill next week, saying he did not have the votes needed to pass.
Republicans hold a 52-seat majority in the Senate, but so far around five GOP senators, some on the right, some moderates, say they won’t vote for the bill as written.
As you can see from the chart here, Utah would lose health care coverage in various demographic groups.
Perhaps the saddest statistic from the progressive analysis is that 22,500 children would be kicked off of the Medicaid rolls – this means special needs kids as well as poorer children.
The analysis shows that 34,300 folks who now have health insurance through the employers would also lose coverage.
Just short of 3,500 elderly Utahns would lose their coverage under the GOP U.S. House plan, which passed by a scant two votes.
One of the greatest defenders of “Trumpcare,” as it is being nicknamed, is U.S. Rep. Chris Stewart’s 2nd District.
His district includes poorer parts of Salt Lake City’s Westside, as well as more affluent areas of Davis County and points to the east.
Stewart would lose 6,200 children from health care insurance rolls, 2,100 adults from Medicaid, 7,900 from employer insurance, and 14,600 from individual market rolls.
His district would also see 1,100 elderly lost to Medicaid.
While Stewart says he’s proud to represent all areas of his 2nd District, in the Salt Lake City portion of his district he lost by more than 3-1 in the last election, which saw him win big overall.
Rep. Mia Love’s 4th District has the highest unpopularity ratings of President Donald Trump among the four U.S. House seats, UtahPolicy polls by Dan Jones & Associates has found.
The analysis finds that 61,000 of her constituents would lose health care coverage in the bill she voted if favor of.
