The much-maligned Affordable Care Act may well be headed for the public policy scrap heap if the Trump administration has its way.
But the controversial law — funded by a prodigious river of at least $6.7 billion in tax money — has already fundamentally changed the health care industry. It gave free or subsidized health care coverage to nearly a half-million Oregonians. It also drove insurance companies out of business, led to painful insurance rate hikes, generated windfall profits for hospitals and undoubtedly saved lives.
Now, it’s all at risk. The entire country can only wait and watch to see what the Trump administration does.
n Oregon, Medicaid enrollment surpassed 30 percent in some counties after the Affordable Care Act loosened eligibility standards. More than 400,000 Oregonians qualified. Many of the counties with the highest Medicaid enrollment are in U.S. Rep. Greg Walden’s district. The Hood River Republican said he remains determined to repeal the law.
