This weekend marks the eighth anniversary of Trump and House Republicans celebrating a vote to repeal the Affordable Care Act (ACA), which at the time provided health coverage to nearly 27 million Americans.
Today, the ACA ensures that roughly 40 million people have access to affordable health care coverage. However, the program is still a target for Trump and Republicans as they aim to roll back a key provision of the program that promises a 90% federal match for states to adopt Medicaid Expansion and increase health care coverage.
As a candidate, Donald Trump said that he was “seriously looking at alternatives” to the Affordable Care Act, calling the GOP’s failure to repeal it “a low point for the Republican Party.”
Ending the Affordable Care Act without a plan to replace it would cause chaos in the health care system, put care at risk for vulnerable Americans, including millions on Medicaid, remove protections for individuals with pre-existing conditions, and drive up the cost of preventative care.
So far, the Trump administration has already proposed significant rule changes to end a monthly opportunity for low-income individuals to enroll in marketplace coverage and shorten the annual open enrollment period by a month. The rule change could cost up to two million Americans their health care coverage.
It’s safe to assume that Trump and Republicans aren’t done chipping away at the health care system and raising costs for Americans. Trump’s proposed budget takes a hatchet to health care, floating a massive $670 million cut to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid. Kevin Hassett, Trump’s National Economic Council Director, has said there will be cuts to Medicaid and that the uncertainty about making cuts is “close to 0.”
In addition, Project 2025, the presidential transition plan backed by many of Trump’s conservative allies and embraced by other Republicans, calls for an even broader dismantling of affordable health care. Project 2025 makes Medicare Advantage the program’s default plan, which would effectively end the traditional Medicare program, and proposes “lifetime caps” on benefits regardless of an individual’s financial situation, which would result in devastating losses of essential health care.
“Eight years later, nothing has changed, and Donald Trump and Republicans are still obsessed with ripping health care away from millions of Americans,” said American Bridge 21st Century spokesperson Brandon Weathersby. “Now, they’re coming for the very programs that keep rural hospitals open, seniors cared for, and working families above water. Republicans are doubling down on a plan to gut Medicaid and end Medicare as we know it. Their agenda will cost lives and leave millions one medical emergency away from bankruptcy. It is as cruel as it is reckless.”
Published: May 2, 2025 | Last Modified: May 12, 2025