If Trump Gets His Way, 21 Million Americans Could Lose Healthcare
President Donald Trump poses for a portrait in the Oval Office in Washington after an interview with The Associated Press. April 21, 2017 (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)
In a Monday federal appeals court filing, President Trump’s Justice Department announced its support of a December appeals court decision that would invalidate the entire Affordable Care Act (ACA). Not only will this effort to take down the ACA in court harm vulnerable Americans, it’s yet another move by the President that circumvents Congress in the pursuit of an unpopular policy goal.
If successful, this effort could cause 21 million Americans to lose their coverage and tax credits. Obamacare contains protections that guarantee Americans with pre-existing conditions can get coverage. 52 million Americans have pre-existing conditions.
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This isn’t the first time the Trump administration and the GOP have targeted America’s healthcare system. President Trump has already ended healthcare cost-sharing reduction subsidies, the Republican Party has held dozens of votes to repeal the ACA, and Trump’s new budget proposal aims to cut $1.5 trillion from Medicaid and $845 billion from Medicare.
This didn’t stop President Trump from sending out a tweet that depicts the opposite of reality.
The Republican Party will become “The Party of Healthcare!”
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 26, 2019
The Justice Department made this move less than 48 hours after Attorney General William Barr dropped his summary of the Mueller report that sparked a positive news cycle for the administration. Healthcare is the number one issue Americans said they cared about during the midterms. Trump hasn’t seen a bump in support after the Mueller report summary either. To say this was an inadvisable political move for President Trump would be an understatement.
