Amongst one of Donald Trump's first acts as president was to make a symbolic gesture against the Affordable Care Act, after having promised to dismantle the program. However, unless Trump and the incoming administration can come up with a replacement for the ACA, also known as Obamacare, as many as over 18 million people could be out of health insurance within the first year of repeal alone.
And, according to a new study from WalletHub, some states may be more affected than others. Researchers looked at data across all 50 states and the District of Columbia, analyzing how many people would become uninsured as a result of an ACA repeal. Researchers also calculated how many jobs would be lost as a result, as well as the potential economic impact.
Source: WalletHub
Unfortunately, the District of Columbia seems to have much to lose. D.C. topped the list of the most potential jobs to be lost as a result of the repeal, and also came in at number one for suffering the most economic impact.
Meanwhile, researchers found that Massachusetts would have the highest growth of an uninsured population by 2019, and West Virginia could have the highest population of uninsured people by 2021.
And the effects of an Obamacare repeal could be dire for those who depend on it for birth control as well as other expensive health services. For now, there is no official replacement for the program if it is dismantled, and according to NBC, some members of the GOP have said that it could take years to come up with a replacement. Unless that happens soon, this repeal could have an affect not only on the U.S. population's health care, but also on the country's economic standing.