NEW DATA: Over 300,000 Washingtonians Would Lose Health Coverage If Trump’s Budget Bill Passes

EDMONDS, WA –Data released by the Joint Economic Committee minority staff breaks down, bystateandcongressional district, how many Americans would lose health care coverage losses due to President Trump and Congressional Republicans’ proposed cuts to Medicaid and the Affordable Care Act, U.S. Senator Maria Cantwell (D-WA), ranking member of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation and senior member of the Senate Finance Committee, announced today.
In total, 16 million Americans –including 306,312 Washingtonians–will lose the health care coverage they need to get regular check-ups, behavioral health care, family planning services, long-term care, urgent care, and more if the Republican bill passes the U.S. Senate and is signed into law.
Congressional District
Est. # of People Losing Affordable Care Act Coverage
Est. # of People Losing Medicaid Coverage
Est. Total # of People Losing Health Coverage
WA-01
11,500
11,638
23,138
WA-02
13,500
20,155
33,655
WA-03
10,000
21,654
31,654
WA-04
8,400
31,693
40,093
WA-05
11,500
24,934
36,434
WA-06
10,000
20,288
30,288
WA-07
13,500
10,458
23,958
WA-08
10,000
13,572
23,572
WA-09
11,500
22,069
33,569
WA-10
8,400
21,589
29,989
According to theanalysis, Washington’s Fifth Congressional District, covering Eastern Washington, would see the most people lose health insurance under the Republican plan of any district in the state. More than 40,000 Eastern Washingtonians in the Fifth District alone won’t be able to get affordable health care if the Republican plan passes.
Washington’s Fourth Congressional District, covering most of Central Washington, would see the second-most people lose health insurance under the Republican plan of any district in the state. More than 35,000 Eastern Washingtonians in the Fourth District alone won’t be able to get affordable health care if the Republican plan passes.
People without health insurance tend to wait until their health problem is an emergency before seeking care in local hospitals. This leads to more crowded emergency rooms for everyone.
And hospitals must factor the uncompensated cost of additional uninsured patients into already strained finances – finances which are especially strained at rural hospitals like those in the Fourth and Fifth Districts.
The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) published its updated analysis, availablehere, after House Republicans passed their budget reconciliation bill with over $700 billion in cuts and significant changes to Medicaid. The Committee fact sheet,available here, provides updated estimates for all 50 states and D.C. of the estimated number of people losing their health insurance. The Committee data broken down by Congressional District is availablehere. Totals by congressional district and by state are slightly different due to rounding.
Medicaid, known as Apple Health in Washington state, covers over 1.9 million Washingtonians. Sen. Cantwell has held events across the state to hear about the impact of the proposed cuts on Washingtonians and released three reports detailing the cuts’ significant negative impacts.  On May 2, Sen. Cantwell released a snapshotreporthighlighting the impact that Medicaid cuts would have on Washington state'shighly-rankedlong-term care system for seniors and people with disabilities. In February, she released a snapshotreportthat demonstrated how cuts would harm health care access in Washington state, and she followed up with areportin March that dove into impacts on the Puget Sound region.
Highlights of those snapshot reports include:
Sen. Cantwell also toured the state to hear from folks who would be directly impacted by cuts to Medicare. Doctors, patients, and health care providers inSeattle,Spokane,the Tri-Cities, andWenatcheewarned that such cuts would devastate Washington state’s health care system and limit access to lifesaving care.
On May 21, Sen. Cantwell joined Washington state health care professionals for a virtual press conference to highlight statewide alarm and opposition to proposed Medicaid cuts. That same day, 23 Republican members of the Washington state legislature sent aletterto the entire Washington state federal Congressional delegation, urging the delegation to “protect Medicaid funding for Washington State.”
A full timeline of Sen. Cantwell’s actions to defend Medicaid from cuts isHERE.
###