A report from a Washington, D.C.-based think tank finds that if the Affordable Care Act is overturned, Maine would see the largest percent increase in the uninsured of any state. The Urban Institute estimates that 105,000 people would lose health insurance.
Looking ahead to 2022, when the economy is expected to be in partial recovery from the COVID-19 recession, the Urban Institute projects that 5% of Maine’s population would be uninsured if the Affordable Care Act is in place. But the Supreme Court will hear oral arguments in a case challenging the law next month, and Urban Institute fellow and health economist Linda Blumberg says if the court declares the ACA unconstitutional, the number of uninsured in Maine would triple to 15%.
“The states that gained the most then have the most to lose if the law is overturned, so that’s a big problem for Maine,” she says.
Blumberg says Maine would also lose $746 million in federal funding, which covers marketplace subsidies that make plans more affordable, as well as 90 percent of the cost of Medicaid expansion.
