This week, the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office released its forecast of how the GOP’s health care plan will impact American families — and the results are bleak. Almost 25 million people will lose their health care coverage, and 7 million will lose employer-sponsored coverage. Even for those lucky enough to keep their insurance, there’s still bad news: Health insurance premiums are predicted to rise by as much as 20% in 2018.
And things could be even worse here in Oregon. The plan would disproportionately hurt our state, leaving nearly half a million Oregonians without health care coverage and tripling the uninsured rate. What’s more, the GOP’s cuts mean losing over 40,000 Oregon jobs, many of which provide employer-sponsored coverage.
It’s clear who loses out under the GOP plan: women, seniors, people with disabilities, rural Oregonians, and working families. The plan would gut Planned Parenthood, making it harder for people with low incomes to access reproductive health care. Seniors will see premiums skyrocket while assistance declines sharply. In Eastern Oregon, nine counties would see health care related tax credits reduced by as much as 71%, putting health care coverage out of reach for low-income and middle class families. Under the Affordable Care Act, Oregon extended coverage to people who hadn’t been able to get coverage under Medicaid in the past, like children with emotional and intellectual disabilities — but under the GOP plan, it’s back to square one for thousands of disabled Oregonians.
In fact, the only people to benefit from the GOP plan are health insurance CEOs and the wealthy. The wealthiest 400 households in the nation are predicted to receive an average annual tax cut of $7 million — each. Health insurance CEOs will also see million-dollar handouts. Under the new plan, companies will be able to double the amount of executive pay that they can deduct from their taxes, encouraging even larger compensation packages for executives.
There’s no two ways about it: If passed, the GOP health care plan will devastate Oregon for years to come. Even without the GOP’s rollback of the Affordable Care Act, Oregon is facing cuts to health care coverage for vulnerable communities unless our elected leaders find a way to raise revenue to fill the budget hole. At Budget Town Halls across the state, we’ve heard how decades of disinvestment have left Oregonians struggling — especially when it comes to health care. With the GOP’s proposal to further cut critical services, it’s more important than ever that we protect Oregon families and ensure health care for all. It won’t be easy to turn the tide of disinvestment, but with your help, we can finally build a better Oregon.
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