Donald Trump has made it clear his “concepts of a plan” would rip away health care access after doubling down on his goal of repealing the Affordable Care Act this past weekend. Now, with new reporting on Republicans’ plans to jack up health care costs and hurt “tens of millions” of Americans across the board, Trump still has not answered for his wildly unpopular effort to “terminate” the ACA and put Americans’ health and well-being at risk again during his second term. 

Donald Trump doubled down this past weekend on his extreme agenda to repeal the ACA, which would gut protections for over 100 million Americans with preexisting conditions.

Kristen Welker, NBC News: “Sir, you said during the campaign, you have concepts of a plan. Do you have an actual plan at this point for health care?”

Trump: “Yes. We have concepts of a plan that would be better.”

Welker: “Still just concepts? Do you have a fully developed plan?”

Trump: “Let me explain. We have the biggest health care companies looking at it. We have doctors. We’re always looking because Obamacare stinks. It’s lousy. There are better answers. If we come up with a better answer, I would present that answer to Democrats and to everybody else, and I’d do something about it.” 

Spectrum News: “The ACA protects more than 100 million people with preexisting conditions from being denied care, plus it requires insurance plans to cover things like preventive care and limit out-of-pocket costs.”

KFF Poll: “Majorities of Democrats [88%], Republicans [62%], and independents [73%] say it is ‘very important’ to continue each of [the Affordable Care Act’s] protections for people with pre-existing conditions.”

Gallup: “Sixty-two percent of U.S. adults, the highest percentage in more than a decade, say it is the federal government’s responsibility to ensure all Americans have healthcare coverage. …

“Fifty-four percent of U.S. adults approve of the ACA, essentially tying the record-high 55% readings in April 2017 (during Republican-led attempts to repeal the law) and November 2020 (after Joe Biden won election as president).” 

New reporting confirms that repealing the ACA and its subsidies – a long-time GOP goal – would drastically raise costs by thousands of dollars while gutting coverage assistance across the country, especially in rural America. 

Axios: “Household spending on health insurance will increase across multiple income groups if enhanced Affordable Care Act subsidies are allowed to expire next year, Urban Institute researchers found. […]

“The fate of the tax credits is shaping up to be one of the biggest health policy fights next year, with Republicans increasingly likely to not renew the assistance.

“President-elect Trump, on NBC’s ‘Meet the Press,’ wouldn’t rule out replacing the Affordable Care Act, repeating that he still had ‘concepts of a plan’ for health care. […]

“Expiration of the subsidies would mean people making 200% to 250% of the federal poverty level, or about $37,000 in annual income, would see their spending double to as much as $1,076 in annual premiums.”

The Guardian: “Republicans take aim at subsidies that help tens of millions of women”

“Perhaps Medicaid is the most tempting target for conservatives because they can use it to undermine the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare. The GOP has been gunning for the ACA since it was signed into law without a single Republican vote in 2010.

“The federal government shares the cost of Medicaid with states. The ACA aimed to make Medicaid cover more people by offering to pay for virtually all the extra costs.”

The Atlantic: “Equally painful for rural America could be Trump and congressional Republicans’ agenda for health care. Big cuts in federal spending on Medicaid and subsidies for the uninsured to buy coverage under the Affordable Care Act were central to the Trump-backed plan that House Republicans passed in 2017 to repeal the ACA. Trump’s administration later backed a Senate Republican proposal to convert Medicaid into a block grant and significantly cut its funding.

“Retrenching federal spending on Medicaid and the ACA remains a priority for congressional Republicans. Trump has consistently excluded Medicaid when he’s pledged not to seek cuts in the other biggest federal safety-net programs, Social Security and Medicare. The Republican Study Committee, a prominent organization of House conservatives, called in its latest proposed budget for converting Medicaid and ACA subsidies into block grants to states and then cutting them by $4.5 trillion over the next decade, more than four times the scale of cuts passed by the House in its 2017 bill.”

New York Magazine: “Vance: Trump’s Health-Care Plan Is to Let Insurers Charge More for Preexisting Conditions”

“What Vance came up with is not only surprising but, if understood properly, far more damaging than Trump’s original statement. The Trump plan, according to Vance, is to permit insurance companies to discriminate against people with preexisting conditions.”

REMINDER: After coming up just one vote short of repealing the ACA when he was in office, Trump spent his campaign pledging to repeal it in a second term. 

NBC News: “Trump approved a surprise decision to push for the complete elimination of the Affordable Care Act in the courts. If it succeeds, millions of Americans will lose their private insurance or Medicaid coverage and the health care system would be thrown into chaos.”

NPR: “The very day President Trump was sworn in — Jan. 20, 2017 — he signed an executive order instructing administration officials ‘to waive, defer, grant exemptions from, or delay’ implementing parts of the Affordable Care Act, while Congress got ready to repeal and replace President Obama’s signature health law.” 

The Hill: “On the campaign trail, Trump has doubled down on his promise to repeal the ACA, a feat he fell one vote short of in 2017.”

Daily Beast: “Trump Revives Plan to Dismantle Obamacare if Elected in 2024”

Associated Press: “Trump says he will renew efforts to replace ‘Obamacare’ if he wins a second term”

New York Magazine: “Vance: Trump’s Health-Care Plan Is to Let Insurers Charge More for Preexisting Conditions”

“What Vance came up with is not only surprising but, if understood properly, far more damaging than Trump’s original statement. The Trump plan, according to Vance, is to permit insurance companies to discriminate against people with preexisting conditions.”