In a late Friday afternoon blog post, Seema Verma doubled down on her lies – playing politics ahead of President Trump’s re-election at a time when the public overwhelmingly opposes their repeal and sabotage agenda. Despite a resounding consensus from health care experts, the CMS administrator once again refused to accept blame for the administration’s role in driving up the number of uninsured Americans by almost 2 million.
Former CMS Administrator Andy Slavitt: “BREAKING: Sorry I won’t retweet it, but the Trump Administration just put out a release blaming the ACA for the rise in Trump’s uninsured rate.The ACA has done more to reduce the uninsured rate than any in history…but that’s just data.” [Andy Slavitt Twitter, 9/13/19]
Georgetown CCF Executive Director Joan Alker: “Census data was clear – it’s the loss of Medicaid/CHIP that’s driving the increase for kids. CMS hasn’t even acknowledged that this is happening — much less tried to fix it.” [Joan Alker Twitter, 9/12/19]
Health Care Analyst Charles Gaba: “What she DOESN’T tell you is that the main REASON for the “double digit premium increase” in 2018 was the Trump Administration cutting off CSR reimbursement payments, and 2019 premiums would’ve been ~8 points *lower* if Trump & the GOP hadn’t zeroed out the Individual Mandate penalty.” [Charles Gaba Twitter, 9/12/19]
Center for American Progress Health Economist Emily Gee: “To recap, the ACA lead to the lowest health insurance rates in history. The Census (CPS) showed that the national uninsured rate ticked up in 2018, with 1.9 million more people uninsured than in 2017.” [Emily Gee Twitter, 9/13/19]
The Hill Health Care Reporter Jessie Hellmann: “This does not explain why Medicaid enrollment is dropping, which is the primary reason the Census gave for the increasing uninsured rate.” [Jessie Hellmann Twitter, 9/12/19]