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Health care is back in the 2020 spotlight after new government figures showed the number of uninsured Americans increased for the first time in nearly a decade.
Democratic presidential candidates pinned the blame on President Trump, arguing his attacks on ObamaCare and his administration’s policies helped drive up the uninsured rate, eroding the hard-fought expansion in coverage achieved by the 2010 Affordable Care Act (ACA).
“20 million people gained coverage under ObamaCare. But after countless attacks on the law by the Trump administration, the uninsured rate increased for the first time since 2019,” tweeted former Vice President Joe Biden, the Democratic front-runner.
“As president, I’ll defend and build on the ACA.”
About 2 million Americans last year joined the ranks of the uninsured, bringing the total to 27.5 million, according to figures released Tuesday by the Census Bureau.
The jump was the first such increase the survey reported since 2009, when the U.S. economy was in recession and shortly before major provisions of ObamaCare took effect.
“Trump and Republicans sabotaged the Affordable Care Act at every turn,” Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.), another White House hopeful, tweeted on Tuesday. “They played politics with health care and now Americans are paying the price.”
Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), who regularly polls in the top three among Democratic presidential candidates, said Trump has “lied” about strengthening the health care system.