Vance's big lie on the ACA

Obamacare coverage fell every year of the Trump presidency and the uninsured rate rose. The truth in one chart.

Trump’s vice presidential pick J.D. Vance asserted during tonight’s debate that the former president “strengthened” the Affordable Care Act. In fact, he weakened it in a variety of ways, which I discussed in this article.

If you look closely at the blue bars during the Trump years, the number of people on Obamacare plans fell every year (except in 2020, the first year of the pandemic, when it was virtually unchanged). As a result, the uninsured rate in the U.S. stagnated and then rose during his presidency.