Trump’s Obamacare Repeal Would Harm Oregon’s Budget, Economy, and Residents

Chuck Sheketoff

One measure of the progress Oregon has made in health care is the scale of the damage that would be done by its undoing.

Without a replacement plan, congressional Republicans are poised to overturn the Affordable Care Act as a first order of business under the new administration. Whether it is effective immediately or is delayed, repeal would have monumental consequences for Oregon.

A new paper (PDF) by the non-partisan Center on Budget and Policy Priorities (CBPP) shows that almost half a million Oregonians would lose coverage and many modest-income Oregonians would take a hit to their pocketbooks when they lose financial assistance for premiums and health expenses.

The paper shows that the loss of federal dollars to Oregon would be monumental — nearly $3 billion in 2019 alone. That would be a big hit to both our economy and our state budget. And of course there’s no plan from Oregon’s Trump supporters to replace those dollars with new state revenues.

On the other hand, repeal would mean big wins for the highest income Oregonians. CBPP highlights, in another short report, data from the Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Center about the millionaires nationwide who would be big winners with ACA repeal.

Oregon and the nation’s progress under the Affordable Care Act is well documented. Oregon’s uninsured rate has shrunk by more than half since before the ACA was implemented. Repeal of Obamacare, especially with no replacement plan, would wreak havoc on hundreds of thousands of Oregonians, our state budget, and our economy.

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Chuck Sheketoff is the executive director of the Oregon Center for Public Policy. You can sign up to receive email notification of OCPP materials at www.ocpp.org.

By Chuck Sheketoff Dec. 22, 2016