Since 2010, the Affordable Care Act (ACA) has helped provide health care for thousands of Mainers, created jobs in the health care sector, reduced uncompensated care costs for hospitals and providers, and eased the burden on businesses that insure workers.
In 2016 alone, 75,000 people used the federal health insurance marketplace to obtain individual health care plans,1 and every insured Mainer has benefited from consumer protections provided by the ACA.
While Maine is in the minority of states that has yet to expand its Medicaid eligibility and take advantage of federal funding, the number of residents without health insurance has still gone down as a result of other ACA provisions. Repealing the law without a suitable replacement would cause 95,000 fewer Mainers to have health insurance in 2019.
The ACA has helped curb increases in health insurance costs for individuals and businesses in Maine. It has also helped reduce uncompensated care costs for Maine hospitals. These benefits have been evident across the state, but the ACA has been particularly beneficial for Mainers aged 55-64 and those living in rural areas. Repealing the ACA without a replacement that preserves and builds on existing successes would be a disaster for Maine.
for a PDF of the full report, click here.
for a PDF of the executive summary, click here.
