There was mostly
bad news for Republicans in the latest Commonwealth Fund survey—a big reduction in the number of uninsured and great love among Republicans for their new insurance. But they can take heart in the fact that their campaign against the law means that
life hasn't changed a bit for millions of poor people.
In the Republican states that have refused to expand Medicaid under the law, an average of one-third of their low-income populations remain uninsured, about the same rate as before the law.
Among adults who earn less than poverty wages in states that didn't expand Medicaid, the uninsured rate is 36 percent, a decline of two percentage points (termed not statistically significant) from last year. That compares to a dramatic drop from 28 percent to 17 percent in states that expanded Medicaid.
This also means that the two states that have always had the highest numbers of uninsured people—Texas and Florida—still lead the nation in that dubious achievement. Florida saw a measly four percent reduction in its uninsured population since the law was enacted, from 30 percent to 26 percent. Texas did a little better among the non-Medicaid population, with a drop in the uninsured rate from from 34 percent to 22 percent. Those two states alone account for
more than 1.8 million of the 5 million left uncovered in the Medicaid gap, 38 percent of the uninsured among the 24 states that still haven't expanded.
So there you go, Republicans. You might really suck at coming up with healthcare plans, but you continue to do an excellent job of screwing over the poor you were elected to represent.