Trump Has A Terrible Health Care Plan
Dementia Don Old Trump was ridiculed for answering a question at the debate on whether or not he had a health care plan by saying: “I have concepts of a plan.” The reality is that Trump currently does have a health care plan and he had one when he was president. The problem with his plans is that they are both terrible.
On an appearance on Meet the Press shortly after the debate, J.D. Vance was asked about the GOP ticket’s health care plan. Vance replied by asserting that Trump’s health plan would allegedly “promote choice” in the health system by separating sicker people into different health insurance coverage pools from the healthier populations.
What the Republicans are proposing is a return to the failed system that existed before the passage of the Affordable Care Act in 2010. This failed policy was labeled risk pools and those people with expensive pre-existing conditions were separated from the rest of the insurance market. The concept of a so called risk pool was to remove from the insurance market the older and sicker people who are more expensive to cover in order to reduce premiums for the younger healthy people who are in the regular market.
The risk pool concept failed because they required government funding to function. Due to the lack of funding, people in the risk polls faced much higher costs and limited coverage. Consequently, many people with pre-existing medical conditions couldn’t afford coverage and went without it.
“When you only have sick people in one separated pool, those premium costs are going to be extremely high, unless they are subsidized, or unless the benefits are really skimpy,” said Sabrina Corlette, a research professor at Georgetown’s Center on Health Insurance Reforms. “Unless you’re willing to throw a lot of taxpayer dollars to subsidize these high-risk pools, they are high-priced, crappy ghettos for people with preexisting conditions,” she said.
Risk pools only provide decent coverage at an affordable price if there is a significant amount of government funding. Private insurance companies can’t make any money insuring the elderly and the sick. That’s why we have Medicare, Medicaid and the ACA. Conservatives would never adequately fund the risk pools because they have a philosophical belief that it’s not a proper function of government to subsidize health care for the sick and the elderly. They just don’t believe in it.
The Harris campaign responded to Vance in a statement soon after: “There should be no doubt about Donald Trump’s commitment to end the Affordable Care Act — he and House Republicans tried doing it over 60 times. Now, one of the ‘concepts’ he’s bringing back is his plan to rip away protections for pre-existing conditions, throw millions off their health care, and drive up costs for millions of Americans with pre-existing conditions.”
Trump and the Republicans would like you to forget about their 2017 health care plan that was called Trump Care. The Republican ACA replacement plan would have taken away insurance from 20 million people, gutted pre-existing condition protections and given the wealthy a big tax cut. The legislation was so bad that the House Republicans voted to exempt themselves from the bill.
The Republican party bosses in the Congress used scorched earth tactics in their unsuccessful attempt to repeal the ACA in 2017. The Trump Care bill was drafted behind closed doors by GOP party bosses and lobbyists. No Democrats were allowed to participate. The GOP then used the budget reconciliation rules they condemned during the Obama Administration in a failed attempt to pass the bill on a straight party line vote.
The Republican majority held one hearing on Trump Care and only allowed a few hours of floor debate. The Senate vote on Trump Care was even held in the middle of the night! John McCain killed the bill with his no vote and dramatic thumbs down gesture. In contrast, there were over 100 hearings on the ACA and several weeks of Congressional floor debate.
The debate over the Trump Care bill in 2017 made the ACA popular for the first time. The Republicans lost control of the House in 2018 due to their toxic replacement plan and the fear that millions of people would lose important benefits. The Republicans never talked about Trump Care again after it was killed in the Senate. If it had been a good bill, the GOP would have campaigned on it in 2018 and 2020.
Nebraska’s Congressional delegation voted for Trump Care in 2017. It was supported by Deb Fischer, Don Bacon and Adrian Smith. Don Bacon even said “Hell yes!” to voting to take away insurance from many of his own constituents and driving up their health insurance costs. Nebraska’s GOP members of Congress have long enjoyed the benefits of taxpayer subsidized health insurance. It must be nice.
If you have a pre-existing condition or have loved ones with pre-existing conditions, you need to vote Blue up and down the ticket. The Republicans believe that rich people don’t have enough money and that the poor and middle class have it too easy. Most voters can’t afford the Republicans.
We are winning this election and the Republicans know it. “Fellow Dems one way we have to make Trump look small not big is to remind folks we are winning the election and he is losing.” Simon Rosenberg.
Be confident going forward. Take nothing for granted. Keep working hard.
It’s America or convicted felon Trump. Choose wisely.