On January 20th, one of the most divisive presidential elections in U.S. History ended with President Donald J. Trump’s hand on a Bible. A key policy-based facet of the President’s rhetoric was his promise to repeal the Affordable Care Act, or ObamaCare. As recently as last Tuesday, discussions have grown over the communities that have directly benefited from the Affordable Care Act, but voted against it.
This map shows the counties which benefitted from the Affordable Care Act and voted decisively against it. Notably, 86.8% of the voters chose President Trump in McCreary County, KY; while their uninsured rate (the percentage of the population without any health insurance) has dropped 19% between 2013 and 2016. 113 of Kentucky’s 120 counties voted in a similar manner. They were not alone, as several counties in the Midwest, Great Plains, and Northwest would follow them in voting against the Affordable Care Act. In Arenac County, Michigan – a county traditionally very divided in national elections – 63.1% of voters chose Trump, despite the uninsured rate falling by 16%. Similarly, Malheur County, Oregon saw 71.7% of its voters go to the ballot box for Trump, despite seeing a 16% decrease in its uninsured population.
The counties displayed are where uninsured rates have fallen at least 10% between 2013 and 2016. The Affordable Care Act was enacted in March 2010 by Former President Barack Obama, with most major provisions coming into effect in January 2014; explaining the time frame of this data. The counties shown are also counties where a majority voted for Donald Trump. Excluded are counties where less than half of the voting population cast their ballots for President Trump, or where the uninsured rate did not decrease more than 10%. Basically, these are the counties that benefited from Obamacare, but voted against it.
