Washington D.C. – U.S. Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-FL-13) will be among the first speakers at the “unusual” midterm Republican Convention starting in Dallas, TX today. The gilded event will curiously tout Republicans’ “agenda focused on affordability” despite the fact the Trump-GOP trickle-down economic policies resulted in 3.4 percent higher costs for consumers than the year before. Out-of-control health care costs do not appear to be a convention theme even as the issue continues to top voters’ list of health care concerns going into the midterms – a problem made exponentially worse after Donald Trump and Republicans like Rep. Luna robbed $1 trillion from Medicaid and the Affordable Care Act (ACA) to pay for tax breaks for billionaires and big corporations under the ‘Big Ugly’ Law.
Brad Woodhouse, President of Save My Care: “Since Donald Trump took office, working families have been punished with higher prices for gas, housing and food along with huge new barriers to quality, affordable health care – all while billionaires and price-gouging corporations have made out like bandits with their new trillion-dollar Trump tax breaks. Amid the GOP-made affordability crisis, Donald Trump and his accomplices like Rep. Luna are throwing themselves a lavish party over failed policies that only the wealthiest few have reason to celebrate. Rep. Luna’s speech ought to be brief with so few accomplishments, unless she considers her vote to rip away health care from 1.5 million Floridians and shutter hospitals to enrich the likes of Elon Musk something to be proud of. The Trump-Luna tax breaks for billionaires have not and will not ever trickle down to everyday Florida families, but at least Donald Trump is personally $2.2 billion richer off the power of the presidency.”
FACTS YOU WON’T HEAR FROM REP. LUNA: DIRE NUMBERS ON FLORIDIANS CHOOSING BETWEEN PAYING MORE OR FOREGOING HEALTH CARE COVERAGE
Anna Paulina Luna claimed that the bill she voted for “puts working and middle class Americans FIRST!” but the reality is:
- An estimated 566,238 Floridians have already lost their Medicaid, CHIP, or ACA coverage after Republicans gutted health care.
○ 123,453 Floridians have been kicked off of Medicaid and CHIP.
○ 442,785 Floridians dropped their health care coverage after premiums skyrocketed.
- 1.5 million Floridians in total are anticipated to become uninsured between 2025 and 2034.
- Nearly 100,000 Floridians living in Anna Pualina Luna’s district were receiving tax credits to make their health care more affordable. Now premiums for Floridians receiving ACA tax credits increased by an average of 132% this year:
○ A 45-year-old in Florida making $64,000 saw their average annual premium costs rise by $3,821to hit $9,261 this year.
○ A 60-year-old couple in Florida making $85,000 saw their average annual premium costs rise by $27,586 to hit $34,811 this year.
○ A family of four in Florida making $130,000 saw their average annual premium costs rise by $15,154to hit $26,204 this year.
FLORIDA HEALTH CARE PROVIDERS AT RISK
- Now, thanks to Republicans gutting the premium tax credits and hiking Floridians’ premiums, providers in Florida will lose an additional $6.7 billion in funding and face a 18.1% spike in uncompensated care demand.
- Florida hospitals alone are expected to lose $40.9 billion over the next decade. 11 health care providers in the state are at-risk, announced cuts, are closing, or have closed:
○ AT-RISK: Lakeside Medical Center
○ CUTS ANNOUNCED: Sanitas Medical Center
○ CLOSURE ANNOUNCED: miCare Clinic
○ CLOSED: Connolly Dermatology – Miami Beach, Jackson South Medical Center Labor & Delivery Unit, Jupiter Medical Center – Pediatric Unit, Osprey PolyClinic, Planned Parenthood – Gainesville Health Center, Planned Parenthood – Lakeland Health Center, UF Health Leesburg Hospital – Labor & Delivery Unit, Walking Urgent Care Coral Springs Clinic
VOICES FROM THE TAMPA BAY AREA
- Judy from Clearwater: “It was her husband’s two strokes in October that first brought Judy Jackson into the Clearwater Free Clinic after his hospital stay. ‘I didn’t go to the doctor, couldn’t afford it,’ she says. ‘They went to discharge him, because we didn’t have any insurance, they referred us here.’ Her husband worked as a truck driver before the strokes; Jackson works part-time as a cafeteria worker, but they have no employer-sponsored insurance, and Obamacare premiums are too high to afford. ‘It’s hard,’ she adds. ‘You go through aches and pains, and you force yourself to get up and go to work.’”
- Linda from Tampa: “‘For the first time in our lives, we will go without health insurance,’ said Linda Misner, a businesswoman in Tampa. ‘We do the best we can, but we can’t afford $40,000 a year in just health care premiums.’” “Misner said she has a basic insurance plan and would still have to pay out of pocket, on top of her increased premium. ‘We will be part of the uninsured in Florida, which just blows my mind, honestly, and how is that acceptable?’ she said.”
PREVIOUS FROM SAVE MY CARE:
###
