There is, however, a third factor behind Americans’ anger, and it isn’t getting nearly as much attention as it should. There has been a catastrophic decline in health insurance coverage combined with sharply rising premiums for many of those who have managed to hang on to their coverage. And this, too, is all on Trump.

Here’s what happened: Trump and his congressional minions refused to renew the expanded subsidies that had made health insurance affordable for millions of Americans during the Biden years. At the same time the One Big Beautiful Bill imposed punitive work requirements that made it far more difficult for families to obtain Medicaid coverage.

And we haven’t felt the full effect of these changes yet — Republicans tried to backload the effects of the OBBB so that much of the pain will come after the midterms. But the consequences of this attack on healthcare have already been dire.

By June 2026 enrollment in Medicaid and the Childrens’ Health Insurance Program had declined by more than 6 million since January 2025; 2.5 million of those losing coverage were children. KFF estimates that enrollment in individual plans, mainly via the Affordable Care Act, was down almost 5 million by June. The redoubtable Charles Gaba, putting these numbers together with other information, estimates that around 12 million Americans have lost health insurance under Trump 2.0.

That’s a lot of lost coverage, even in a nation as big as ours. And because many of the savage cuts Trump and his allies have imposed on healthcare have yet to kick in, the situation will get much worse in the years ahead. It’s worth noting thatkicking children off healthcare coverage is especially personally and socially destructive because it compromises their health and earnings potential for their entire lifetimes.

Paul Krugman, Substack Oct 21 2026

Health insurance CEO shooting unleashes Internet vitriol aimed at industry

---

Ken Alltucker ,  Jeanine Santucci ,  N’dea Yancey-Bragg  USA TODA

https://eu.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2024/12/06/united-healthcare-ceo-killed-highlights-frustration-workers/76798694007/

Here is an article about Universal Care vs Health Insurance cover:

https://thisvsthat.io/health-care-vs-universal-care

See UK system:

Rip the plaster off’: Andy Burnham sets out vision for universal free social care

PM says he will put proposals for NHS-style service funded by everybody into Labour’s next general election manifesto

Pippa Crerar and Alexandra Toppin

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2026/sep/27/andy-burnham-sets-out-vision-for-universal-free-social-care