Miami Herald: Trump’s push to end the ACA could roil politics in Miami, Obamacare capital of the U.S.

Yesterday, the Miami Herald reported that Donald Trump’s continued effort to repeal the Affordable Care Act could cost him precious votes in Florida. The ACA is incredibly popular in the Sunshine State, where more residents sign up for health insurance on the ACA marketplace than any other state.

Earlier this week, Jill Biden held a listening session with Tampa residents to learn about their personal experience with the legislation and share Vice President Joe Biden’s commitment to building on it to provide health care to more Americans.

Miami Herald: Trump’s push to end the ACA could roil politics in Miami, Obamacare capital of the U.S.
David Smiley and Daniel Chang | 6.26.20

KEY POINTS:

• A renewed effort by the White House to overturn the Affordable Care Act is stirring campaign politics in battleground Florida, a must-win state for President Donald Trump that is home to nearly 2 million Obamacare consumers — most in the nation.
• Miami Rep. Donna Shalala, a former Health and Human Services secretary under former President Bill Clinton, called the effort “immoral.” She said there are 100,000 people in her district alone relying on Obamacare. No county in the U.S. has more people signed up for 2020 Obamacare coverage than Miami-Dade’s 457,000, according to data from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, which manages the federal insurance exchange at healthcare.gov.
• But federal data shows many Floridians are receiving their coverage through the health law, which was adopted in 2010.
• Recent polls have found that Florida voters count healthcare or the coronavirus pandemic among the most important issues this campaign season. This week, several polls found that Floridians trust Trump to effectively respond to the coronavirus pandemic less than his opponent in November, former Vice President Joe Biden.
• Kevin Muñoz, a spokesman for Biden’s campaign in Florida, said “the last thing the president and [Attorney General] Moody should be doing is trying to take away Floridians’ healthcare” during a spike in COVID-19 cases, which he mostly blamed on Trump and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis. “As president, Joe Biden will strengthen and build on the ACA so that every Floridian can access the care they need.”