More Than Half of People Who Got Obamacare Tax Credits Are Represented by Republicans in the House
As House Republicans debate how to replace the Affordable Care Act, IRS data shows that many of their constituents benefit from tax credits the law provides to offset the cost of healthcare. Using IRS data on tax returns for every ZIP code, TIME calculated the percentage of households in each congressional district making use of the tax subsidies, which represent only one subset of people covered by Obamacare. In spite of the widespread Republican opposition to the healthcare law, 55 percent of those households are represented by Republicans in the House of Representatives. As TIME recently reported from western North Carolina, where use of these subsidies is above average, this means many families that live in places that significantly supported Donald Trump are currently participating in the law his Administration is now working to dismantle. People receiving tax subsidies under the Affordable Care Act are just one group of beneficiaries, but they are the most vulnerable in any repeal. Other provisions of the law, which allow children to stay on their parents' insurance until age 26 and expand the pool of Medicaid recipients, are under negotiation and may remain in some form. Of the 20 districts receiving the most tax credits, the top three are all Republican-held districts in Southern Florida Those represented by Rep. Carlos Curbelo, Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart and Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen. All three have promised to repeal the law. In spite of electing Republicans to Congress, two of those three districts voted overwhelmingly for Hillary Clinton over Trump. Also among the top 20 is Rep. Mark Meadows, the chairman of the conservative House Freedom Caucus, who has vehemently opposed Obamacare and is also critical of the proposed replacement for its continued protection of those with pre-existing conditions. Over 4 percent of households receive the income tax credit in his district, which is more than twice the national average. While those percentages may seem low, they represent a significant number of householdsmany of which include multiple beneficiariesand don't include those who participate in the healthcare law but are sufficiently wealthy so as not to qualify for the tax deduction. The following maps show what percent of households reported income tax credits from Obamacare divided by which party represents their district in Congress.