After the implementation of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), the percent of adults without health care insurance declined steadily. The individual marketplaces and expansion of Medicaid in many states opened up new avenues to insurance for families who could not get coverage through employers. The Trump administration and Congressional Republicans are working hard to reverse this progress, though, and the data show that they are succeeding in reducing access to health care. A new survey shows that the number of nonelderly adults without health insurance rose again in 2018, particularly in states that have not expanded Medicaid.
May 04 2018
President Trump Job Tracker April 2018
Apr 27 2018
April Economic Snapshot of the States
Although the U.S. economy overall continues its expansion following the Great Recession and associated financial crisis, the recovery can look very different from state to state. The lion’s share of economic gains are not only concentrated at the top of the income and wealth distribution, but also in a small share of regions. While some parts of the country have surged ahead, millions of Americans in urban and rural communities are still waiting for their wages to start rising again and struggling to make ends meet.
As life expectancy has increased over the past half century, Americans are living longer today during retirement than their parents did. Social Security is the economic backbone to millions of Americans, many of whom use it to better support themselves in retirement, and to millions of workers who have become disabled as well as their families. Social Security’s support is proof that we are committed to protecting and supporting workers when they leave the job.
Four months after the GOP passed a tax bill that sliced tax rates for big banks nearly in half, large financial institutions are reporting record profits and returning billions of dollars to wealthy shareholders. And yet, these same banks continue to fall short for the millions of “unbanked” or “underbanked” Americans who still lack access to basic financial services and struggle to attain economic security.
Last Wednesday, House Republicans passed a bill out of committee that would negatively affect millions of Supplemental Nutrition Assistance (SNAP) recipients. SNAP provides low-income families with vital financial assistance to fend off food insecurity and hardship, and in 2016 lifted roughly 3.6 million Americans out of poverty, including 1.5 million children. The Republican bill would cut more than $15 billion in benefits and impose harsh work requirements, despite the fact that nearly three quarters of beneficiaries already work within a year of receiving assistance. Cuts would be especially damaging in rural communities, where 16 percent of households depend on SNAP.
Teacher pay is falling across the country after factoring in inflation. In addition, teachers are being required to pay more for their health care, now paying nearly $1,300 more in annual premiums than the average for state and local employees.
