“The Kaiser Family Foundation estimated that 54 million people have conditions serious enough that insurers would outright deny them coverage if the A.C.A. were not in effect”
Raleigh – A new report from The New York Times assessed the human impact of the Affordable Care Act, examining the exact consequences if the Supreme Court strikes down the law or if Donald Trump and Republicans manage to repeal it.

According to analyses from the Kaiser Family Foundation and various government studies, “As many as 133 million Americans — roughly half the population under the age of 65 — have pre-existing medical conditions that could disqualify them from buying a health insurance policy or cause them to pay significantly higher premiums if the health law were overturned.” Almost 5 million North Carolinians have a pre-existing condition.

The story also highlighted that roughly 21 million Americans are at risk of becoming uninsured if the ACA were dismantled.

119,000 North Carolinians have lost coverage under Trump, who is set to discuss health care during his trip to Charlotte on Thursday and will announce his Supreme Court nominee on Saturday. The Court is scheduled to hear the Republican lawsuit against the ACA in November.

NCDP Chairman and former Commissioner of Insurance Wayne Goodwinreleased the following statement:

“As Donald Trump prepares to visit Charlotte to discuss health care on Thursday, today’s report puts the spotlight squarely on the cruelty of his endless crusade to dismantle the Affordable Care Act. Almost 5 million North Carolinians have a pre-existing condition, while hundreds of thousands of others have been able to purchase affordable insurance through the federal marketplace. Trump’s effort to end this law and its critical protections puts millions of lives at risk, especially as we continue to battle the coronavirus pandemic. He must be made to answer for his heartless push to throw so many North Carolinians into medical and financial uncertainty.”