Uninsured rate under Trump surges to highest level since 'Obamacare' began
WASHINGTON _ The percentage of American adults without health insurance surged upward in 2018, reaching levels not recorded since before President Donald Trump took office, according to a new national survey that revealed widespread coverage losses over the past two years.
At the end of 2018, 13.7 percent of U.S. adults were uninsured, up from 10.9 percent at the end of 2016, when President Barack Obama was completing his second term.
The new number represents the highest uninsured rate since the beginning of 2014, when the Affordable Care Act began providing billions of dollars in aid to help low- and middle-income Americans get covered, according to the survey by Gallup.
The new report also indicates that some 7 million American adults have likely lost or dropped coverage since 2016.
"After years of progress it is deeply troubling to see more Americans becoming uninsured," said Chris Hansen, president of the advocacy arm of the American Cancer Society.
The American Cancer Society is among scores of patient and consumer advocates, physician groups, hospital associations, and others working in health care who have issued increasingly dire warnings that Trump administration policies are jeopardizing Americans' access to health care.
_Los Angeles Times
