<\/p>\n
Rep. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., speaks during an address marking New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani first 100 days in office at the Knockdown Center, Sunday, April 12, 2026, in New York.<\/p>\n
Andres Kudacki\/AP<\/p>\n
The claim: Democrats say Republicans have ignored voters\u2019 concerns about affordability, including health insurance as they supported President Donald Trump\u2019s 2025 tax and spending bill.<\/p>\n
“As a result of the ‘Big Beautiful Bill,’ 15 million Americans have been thrown off the healthcare that they need,” Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt.,\u00a0said during a committee hearing<\/a>\u00a0that included\u00a0testimony<\/a>\u00a0by Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.<\/p>\n The senator, who frequently talks about the\u00a0high cost<\/a>\u00a0of health insurance or\u00a0lack of access<\/a>\u00a0to it, has cited the 15 million number\u00a0several<\/a>\u00a0times<\/a>\u00a0in\u00a0recent<\/a> months.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n PolitiFact ruling: Mostly False. This is premature. ACA plan enrollment is down about 1 million people since 2025. The CBO projected that 10 million people would be newly uninsured by 2034 as a result of the 2025 bill. Separate from the legislation, in 2026 roughly 4 million people were expected to lose expiring tax credits that subsidized their coverage.<\/p>\n Although close to 15 million people are expected to lose coverage \u2014 not all of them because of the One Big Beautiful Bill \u2014 it hasn\u2019t happened yet and we cannot know with certainty that it will.<\/p>\n Discussion<\/p>\n Millions of people\u00a0are on track to lose<\/a>\u00a0Affordable Care Act coverage\u00a0in the coming years,<\/a>\u00a0according to independent estimates. But only a fraction have likely occurred so far.<\/p>\n The One Big Beautiful Bill Act extended income tax cuts for a wide swath of individual taxpayers and businesses, added\u00a0$75 billion<\/a>\u00a0in new funds for Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and made historic cuts to safety net programs, including\u00a0Medicaid<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n The\u00a0Congressional Budget Office<\/a>, Congress\u2019 nonpartisan budget-analysis arm, predicted shortly after the legislation passed that the law would increase the number of people without health insurance by 10 million through 2034. That included people who had been covered by Medicaid or the Affordable Care Act.<\/p>\n Although Sanders\u2019 statement targeted the\u00a0 legislation, Sanders\u2019 spokesperson Patrick Barham told us the senator was also referring to the expiration of premium tax credits for people purchasing insurance through the ACA marketplaces, expected to affect about\u00a04 million<\/a>\u00a0people. Barham said these two factors “will strip coverage from more than 15 million Americans and increase out-of-pocket health care costs for millions more.” He cited an\u00a0analysis\u00a0<\/a>by the left-leaning Center on Budget and Policy Priorities.\u00a0<\/p>\n The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services reported in March that\u00a023.1 million consumers\u00a0<\/a>were enrolled in ACA plans for 2026. That\u2019s about 1 million less than in 2025.<\/p>\n So far,\u00a0New Jersey<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0New York<\/a>\u00a0are among the states reporting decreased enrollment.<\/p>\n Community health centers that serve high volumes of ACA-enrolled patients have reported declines in insured patients, said Sara Rosenbaum, a George Washington University healthcare law and policy professor. Young people have disproportionately shed their insurance, leaving older, sicker people insured.\u00a0<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n Medicaid work requirements under the 2025 law are set to take effect in January 2027, although some states are implementing the new rules this year, including Nebraska and Montana.\u00a0<\/p>\n