MEMORANDUM:
TO: Interested Parties
FROM: DNC War Room
DATE: October 26, 2020
RE: Trump’s Closing Admission: He Wants to Repeal Health Care for Millions

Throughout his presidency, Trump has worked tirelessly to sabotage Americans’ access to health care by trying to eliminate the Affordable Care Act. Under his watch, drug prices continue to soar and fewer Americans are insured. And now, he’s rushing to confirm a Supreme Court nominee who will undoubtedly support his administration’s legal battle to eliminate the Affordable Care Act. So it’s no surprise that when interviewed by 60 Minutes, he said the quiet part out loud — “I hope that they end [the Affordable Care Act], it will be so good if they end it.” 

Despite years of claiming his health care plan is just “two weeks” away, the truth is, Trump’s only plan is to take health care away from tens of millions of Americans and eliminate protections for as many as 133 million people with preexisting conditions. That’s the whole plan. And to make matters worse — he’s stayed the course on this disastrous route even in the middle of a pandemic that has led to over 225,000 deaths and infected more than 8.6 million people, many of whom now live with preexisting conditions. 

The American people have made it clear that they want a president who will ensure more people have access to quality, affordable health care. But at every step of the way, Trump has fought to undo the progress of the Affordable Care Act when Americans need it most. 

Despite the pandemic, Trump has continued his reckless effort to terminate the Affordable Care Act, putting health care coverage and protections for people with preexisting conditions at risk when they’re most needed.

• Trump has promised to repeal the Affordable Care Act since he started his campaign.

• Even a pandemic that has sickened millions of Americans and killed over 225,000 has not deterred Trump from his attempt to overturn and sabotage the Affordable Care Act.

• The ACA has been a lifeline during the pandemic, and many coronavirus patients experience long-term complications that could qualify as preexisting conditions and lead to denied or more expensive coverage if Trump’s lawsuit succeeds.

• Trump’s lawsuit to overturn the ACA threatens to end the Medicaid expansion program that brought coverage to 12 million Americans, improved health outcomes, and helped reduce racial disparities.

• Trump’s effort to overturn the ACA risks raising out-of-pocket prescription drug costs for many seniors on Medicare.

• Trump’s effort to repeal the ACA could also weaken resident protections at nursing homes, limit options for seniors, and strip health care from employees.

Trump has repeatedly touted the announcement of a new health care plan, but it’s been “ weeks” away for years — and no plan has ever materialized.  

• JUNE of 2019 — TRUMP: “I’m going have a plan over the next month—”

• JULY of 2020 — TRUMP “You heard me yesterday. We’re signing a health care plan within two weeks, a full and complete health care plan that the Supreme Court decision on DACA gave me the right to do. So we’re going to solve—we’re going to sign an immigration plan, a health care plan, and various other plans. And nobody will have done what I’m doing in the next four weeks.”

• JULY of 2020 — TRUMP: “Well, we’re going to be doing a healthcare plan. We’re going to be doing a very inclusive healthcare plan. I’ll be signing it sometime very soon.”

• AUGUST of 2020 — TRUMP: “We’re going to be introducing a tremendous healthcare plan sometime prior — hopefully, prior to the end of the month.”

• AUGUST of 2020 — TRUMP: “Over the next two weeks, I’ll be pursuing a major executive order requiring health insurance companies to cover all pre-existing conditions for all customers.”

• OCTOBER of 2020 — TRUMP: “It’s fully developed. It’s going to be announced very soon.”

Trump’s continued failure to mount an effective pandemic response has exacerbated the public health consequences of coronavirus, which has killed more than 225,000 Americans.

• Trump has failed to lead a national response to the coronavirus, resulting in surging cases and deaths, and the U.S. experiencing the world’s worst coronavirus outbreak.

• Trump failed to implement a national testing strategy, even suggesting he told aides to slow down the testing to paint a rosier picture, and he refuses to take responsibility for his response.

• The U.S. response to the virus was hindered by the Trump administration’s early testing failures, and months later, states are still struggling to get testing supplies in the absence of a national strategy.

• Trump was slow to ensure that the nation had the medical supplies it needed to combat the virus and those shortages are still plaguing the country’s response.

• At every turn, Trump has downplayed the virus, refused to listen to medical experts, and put his incompetence on full display.

• Trump prematurely pushed to relax coronavirus restrictions, without ensuring it could be done safely, when the virus was still circulating at a high rate, leading to a summer resurgence that set new records.

• Cases are surging in states across the country, with the U.S. hitting record-high numbers of new cases and 15 states adding more cases in the past week than in any other seven-day stretch.

• And now, as Trump continues to downplay the threat of the virus and lie that it’s “going away,” his White House essentially admitted that they have given up on trying to contain its spread.