The number of uninsured Americans has increased by around 2.3 million between 2016 and 2019, a new analysis of the federal surveys on health insurance coverage in the US has claimed. The analysis by scientists at the Harvard Medical School and the City University of New York's Hunter College, published in the Health Affairs blog, stated that the contraction under the tenure of President Donald Trump caused around 3,399 and maybe as many as 25,180, excess deaths even ahead of the onset of the coronavirus or COVID-19 pandemic.
The researchers studied the results of three benchmark federal surveys that gather data on health insurance coverage, the American Community Survey (ACS), the Current Population Survey, and the also the National Health Interview Survey.
Number of Uninsured Americans During Trump's Tenure Increased
All three surveys pointed out that 'uninsurance' has spiked during the time of Trump but the scientists cited that the ACS results as very reliable. Making use of the ACS-based data indicating the number of uninsured Americans has risen by 2.3 million, the scientists calculated the number of resulting extra deaths by applying estimates of the mortal consequences of getting uninsured from the previous peer-reviewed researches.
"I see that my uninsured patients often can't get the care they need, and research proves that many who lack coverage die as a result," the study author Steffie Woolhandler, who is a Professor at the Hunter College and Lecturer at Harvard Medical School noted. "President Trump has tried at every turn to undermine the ACA and chip away at coverage. That's costing thousands of lives," she also mentioned.
With the US Presidential Election coming it will be interesting to see what happens. The Trump administration has faced the wrath of the citizens for the handling of the coronavirus pandemic. The US has currently had the highest number of coronavirus cases in the world as countries are preparing for a second wave of the pandemic.
