FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE | October 13, 2017
Kevin Nix | knix@legacycommunityhealth.org | (202) 431 5796

 

Trump Administration subsidy cuts to ACA are bad for Texas. But there is a solution.

HOUSTON – Last night, the Trump Administration announced it was cutting off subsidy payments to insurance companies operating on the marketplace established under the Affordable Care Act. The Congressional Budget Office estimates such cuts could cause patient premiums to increase by 20% in 2018 and 25% by 2020.

“The Administration’s cuts to ACA subsidies will make a bad situation in Texas much worse,” said Katy Caldwell, CEO of Legacy Community Health. “The state already has the highest number of uninsured people in the country, and the new presidential directive will cause more hardworking middle-and lower-income Texans to fall off their insurance. They simply won’t be able to afford it. Health care costs go up, followed by poor health outcomes. The vicious cycle continues. But there is a solution: Congress can appropriate money for the ACA subsidies, which could take effect immediately.”

Sens. Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn., and Patty Murray, D-Wash., are currently working on a bipartisan plan to fund Obamacare subsidies and stabilize the insurance markets.

 

Legacy Community Health, a not-for-profit Federally Qualified Health Center (FQHC), provides comprehensive care to over 150,000 community members, regardless of their ability to pay, at 29 clinics in Southeast Texas. The agency provides adult primary care, HIV/AIDS care, pediatrics, OB/GYN and maternity, dental, vision and behavioral health.

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