Trump’s Broken Promises on Health Care Will Continue to Haunt Him

Tomorrow begins open enrollment for the Affordable Care Act, which has allowed millions more Americans to access affordable health care coverage. Donald Trump has attacked the ACA time and again, making promises to improve the quality of health care for hardworking people across the country but then trying to rip away coverage away from millions, putting people with preexisting conditions in jeopardy and trying to gut funding for Medicare and Medicaid. 

If Trump thinks voters won’t hold him accountable, that’s Witchful thinking.

Here are some of the scariest things Trump has done to sabotage health care for Americans since he took office:

TRUMP PROMISED INSURANCE FOR EVERYBODY. BUT THE UNINSURED RATE INCREASED FOR THE SECOND CONSECUTIVE YEAR, AS 1.1 MILLION AMERICANS LOST HEALTH INSURANCE AMID TRUMP’S SABOTAGE CAMPAIGN. 

USA TODAY: “The number of Americans without health insurance increased again in 2018, the second consecutive year that figure has risen after several years of declines under Obamacare, a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention survey shows… That means about 1.1 million more Americans lost insurance coverage last year. Efforts by the Trump administration and Congress to challenge and loosen requirements of the Affordable Care Act probably played a role in some going without coverage, analysts said.” 

NEW YORK TIMES EDITORIAL: “So much for President Trump’s big campaign promise: ‘We’re going to have insurance for everybody’ — with coverage that would be ‘much less expensive and much better.’ More than 20 million Americans gained health care coverage under the A.C.A., or Obamacare. Health experts say most would lose that coverage under [House Republicans 2017] proposal.”

TRUMP AND THE GOP DON’T HAVE A PLAN TO PROTECT HEALTH CARE…. BACKING A RECKLESS LAWSUIT THAT GUTS THE ACA IS THEIR PLAN.

WASHINGTON POST: “But neither the White House nor Republicans in Congress have offered a new plan to replace the comprehensive Obama-era law, which was passed nearly a decade ago and has grown in popularity since Trump was elected.”

NEW YORK TIMES: “Such a decision could end health insurance for some 21 million Americans and affect many millions more who benefit from the law’s protections for people with pre-existing medical conditions and required coverage for pregnancy, prescription drugs and mental health.”

TRUMP HAS LITTLE TO SHOW FOR HIS MANY PROMISES TO LOWER PRESCRIPTION DRUG COSTS.

POLITIFACT: “Spending on drugs has continued to climb” and “there is also no evidence to support the argument that Trump himself is responsible for those changes in drug pricing.”

ROLL CALL: “By backing the wholesale repeal of the 2010 health care law, President Donald Trump could unravel his own plan on prescription drug prices and undermine his messaging on an important issue ahead of the 2020 election: the climbing cost of medicines.”

DESPITE HIS PROMISES, TRUMP HAS CALLED FOR MASSIVE CUTS TO MEDICARE AND MEDICAID. 

WASHINGTON POST: Trump’s 2020 budget would cut Medicaid spending by nearly $1.5 trillion.

VOX: Trump’s 2020 budget proposed cutting $575 billion from Medicare.

TRUMP EXPANDED JUNK INSURANCE PLANS THAT CAN SKIRT THE ACA’S REQUIREMENTS FOR ESSENTIAL HEALTH BENEFITS LIKE MATERNITY CARE, SUBSTANCE ABUSE TREATMENT OR CANCER DRUGS.

NEW YORK TIMES EDITORIAL: Trump Tries to Kill Obamacare by a Thousand Cuts: “Not mentioned in the department’s talking points is the fact that these policies often do not cover things like mental health services, substance abuse treatment, cancer drugs and maternity care. As a result, people who buy such skimpy plans could end up being hit with exorbitant bills if they actually need medical care.”

AT EVERY TURN, TRUMP HAS WORKED TO UNDERMINE WOMEN’S HEALTH CARE AND REPRODUCTIVE RIGHTS.

VOX: “It’s almost hard to remember now, but in the days before the Affordable Care Act was in place, health insurance companies routinely charged women in America more than men. Some women were deemed uninsurable because they had preexisting conditions like pregnancy or a breast cancer diagnosis. Now Obamacare makes that illegal — but Donald Trump’s election endangered those protections.”

NEW YORK TIMES EDITORIAL: “In its continuing assault on reproductive rights, the Trump administration has issued potentially devastating changes to the nation’s nearly 50-year-old family planning program, Title X, which allows millions of women each year to afford contraception, cancer screenings and other critical health services.”