Millions lost their health insurance amid the pandemic. Trump wants to make it worse.

The number of uninsured adults in the United States saw its largest increase in history between February and May, a rise attributed to coronavirus-fueled job losses, a new study from a nonpartisan health care advocacy group found.

According to the study from Families USA, 5.4 million laid-off workers became uninsured during that time period. That jump is higher than the 3.9 million people who became uninsured during the Great Recession from 2008 to 2009.

And Donald Trump could make the number of uninsured exponentially worse as he continues to push for the Supreme Court to invalidate the Affordable Care Act — a move that could cause 20 million more Americans to lose their health insurance coverage.

The Families USA study comes as the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States worsens, with the number of new cases increasing at a record pace.

If uninsured Americans contract the virus and need to be hospitalized, it could cause financial ruin for those individuals.

A study from April found that medical bills for those seeking coronavirus treatment could cost between $42,486 to $74,310. And with roughly 40% of Americans unable to afford a surprise $400 bill, those coronavirus treatment costs could cause serious strain for the uninsured.

The Families USA study also found that a coronavirus relief bill the House passed in May could help solve the problem of uninsured Americans.

That bill, called the Health and Economic Recovery Omnibus Emergency Solutions Act or HEROES Act, would fully subsidize COBRA premiums, allowing laid-off workers to continue receiving the employer-sponsored plans they had before losing their jobs. It would also create a new ACA open-enrollment period for the uninsured to sign up for health insurance.

The Senate, however, has refused to take up the bill.

And Trump has rejected calls to reopen the ACA markets, as he’s been fighting to repeal the landmark health insurance law.

Published with permission of The American Independent Foundation.