Trump’s trail of broken promises on health care

By reminding voters what is at stake in 2020 — the ACA — Democrats can once again use the Trump administration’s vendetta against it to win.

by Arielle Kane, Director of Health Care | Progressive Policy Institute

On the campaign trail, Donald Trump promised no cuts to Medicaid, that he would protect those with preexisting conditions, and that everyone would have insurance under his new health care plan.

He has broken every one of those promises over the last two years. What’s more, the White House campaign to sabotage the Affordable Care Act (ACA) sparked a voter backlash that cost Republicans dearly in last year’s midterm election.

The president apparently has learned nothing from that rebuff. Having failed to pass legislation to kill the ACA, the administration is now turning to judicial activism and the courts. The Department of Justice (DOJ) announced yesterday that it is endorsing a Texas court ruling striking down the entire ACA.

In Texas v. Azar, a group of conservative states are challenging the legality of the ACA after the individual mandate penalty was reduced to $0. A conservative judge in Texas has ruled in favor of the plaintiffs and the case is working its way through the court system. The Trump administration originally said it would not defend the provisions of the law tied to the individual mandate — the provisions that prevented insurers from denying coverage (guaranteed issue) or raising premiums based on preexisting conditions (community rating).

But now the Trump DOJ says the whole law should be overturned. This would:

• Increase the number of uninsured by 17.1 million
• Undo Medicaid coverage expansion to 15 million low-income people
• Abolish protections for those with preexisting conditions
• Prevent young adults from staying on their parents plans until the age of 26
• Cancel millions of dollars of investment in health care delivery transformation
• Increase the cost of premiums

If the Trump administration gets its way, all of the ACA regulations governing the insurance market would be tossed out — these include the most popular provisions of the law such as protections for those with preexisting conditions, getting rid of life-time caps, and allowing young people to stay on their parent’s policies.

Perhaps the Trump administration is feeling emboldened by having dodged the “collusion” bullet in the Mueller report. However, they have pivoted right back to a losing battle for Republicans. Democrats won in November because they focused on health care, not Russia. By reminding voters what is at stake in 2020 — the ACA — Democrats can once again use the Trump administration’s vendetta against it to win.