Former President Donald Trump has called to revive his efforts to scrap and replace Obamacare if he wins the 2024 presidential election, saying he is "seriously looking at alternatives" if he wins a second term.
Trump had previously attempted to repeal Obamacare, or more formally known as the Affordable Care Act, back in 2017 during his presidential term, which ended up failing on the senate floor as a result of the late Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) siding with Democrats to keep Obamacare in place. Republicans were merely one vote away from repealing the law and Trump called it "a low point for the Republican Party" on a recent Truth Social post.
Trump's comments garnered some rebuke from Democrats, especially President Joe Biden's campaign - "My predecessor, once again ... called for cuts that could rip away health insurance for tens of millions [of] Americans and Medicaid," Biden said Monday at the White House. "They just don't give up. But guess what? We won't let these things happen." Biden's campaign will even run new TV ads this week in swing states to highlight the president's efforts to lower some prescription drug prices and draw attention to Trump's call to replace Obamacare.
Republican senators have generally expressed some hesitance toward Trump's efforts during interviews on Monday evening. "We've gotten so far down the road now that it's almost technically impossible to do that. But there is a way to get rid of all the bad and hopefully put some good back in place," Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) said.
"I don't see that as being the rallying cry. I really don't." Sen. Shelly Moore Capito (R-W.Va) also said that evening.
About 6 in 10 Americans say they have a favorable opinion of the health reform bill that was first signed into law back in 2010, according a May 2023 KFF poll. Biden's Health and Human Services Department says that more than 40 million are insured through coverage "related to provisions of the Affordable Care Act" as well, highlighting the scope of impact that it has on the American people and the potential effects it can have if Trump were to carry out his plans of scrapping the program if he wins the 2024 election.
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The prospect of President Trump reviving efforts to replace Obamacare in the 2024 election is a contentious one. It's clear that the issue remains polarizing. President Biden's strong opposition to Trump’s goals, not to mention the general public opinion, highlights the deep divide surrounding healthcare policy in America. The pushback from the Republican senators is a sign that Trump’s efforts are not clear-cut and do not appeal to all of the Republican Party, which only further muddies up the state of the policy in the political world. Furthermore, there’s a lot of tension between scrapping the existing system and the promise of replacing it with something better. It becomes important to assess whether a replacement would truly serve the interests of all of the people (those covered as well as those not covered by Obamacare), not only because the healthcare options of 40 million people are at risk, but also because should Trump be elected in 2024, a policy change could set the tone for the rest of his presidency. Knowing how Trump operates, numerous repeals of various acts and laws passed by Democrats would be sure to come. Even if the entire Trump administration, or even the general public at that, were to agree with said policy revocations, it would begin to shape our political system as wishy-washy and ineffective instead of the firm, enduring, long-lasting policy-making system we are known for. In very extreme language, if every president repealed a policy decision of the last president’s administration simply because they didn’t like it or agree with it, the framework of the policy-making systems would collapse.
Kind of tiresome to see Trump talking about Obamacare AGAIN. I'm not 100% certain but I think I remember him talking about replacing Obamacare as long ago as 2020 (and still not producing any viable alternative for people to discuss). The fact that he hasn't, even now, produced any alternative (or an explanation for why no replacement is needed) only weakens his position. With Nikki Haley gaining momentum (and recently obtaining the endorsement of Charles Koch), it's possible that Trump leaves himself vulnerable with no especially strong policy positions. In 2016 the whole "Build a wall" thing was a big rallying cry for his base (as well as griping about NATA, the Paris agreement, etc.). Now Trump seems to be almost purposely ambiguous on many issues. For example, with abortion Trump has been asked about it repeatedly but has not offered a clear response on where he stands on the issue.
I think Vishal brings up a very good point about Trump's lack of a solid policy platform. However, I also am not sure if that will negatively affect his popularity, as much of his support seems to stem from very emotional, "gut feeling" connections from his supporters. After all, he's always presented himself as "different" from politicians which has been a part of his appeal.
As for Trump's stance on Obamacare, he's just saying the same thing he has been for years, yet without any action. I also find it concerning that he hasn't proposed an alternative (it probably doesn't exist) since even after his attempt to repeal the Affordable Care Act in 2017 failed, he basically hasn't really done much to carry through on his promises. Plus, beyond the political side (and the opportunity for Democrats to use this to their advantage since Obamacare is pretty popular), it just seems incredibly irresponsible and inhumane to deprive tens of millions of people of health insurance without providing a viable alternative.
Starting with what seems like a tangent but I promise is related, for the interest group project I researched the American Public Health Association. One of the things they proudly flaunted was their role as a protector of the Affordable Care act (ACA). Last time Trump tried to scrap ACA, the APHA sued him. Obviously he failed. So the point here is, his triumphant declaration of "away with Obamacare!" not only sounds redundant (as others have pointed out), but also idiotic. He already has failed once because of such groups and great Democratic opposition. These groups haven't suddenly vanished since 2020, what does he think will happen? Suddenly everyone will want to go with his plan? That he will succeeded down a path he failed only three years earlier? I linked APHA's 2020 press statement on their opposition to Trump below.
https://apha.org/news-and-media/news-releases/apha-news-releases/2020/apha-opposes-administration-action
I think it's important for politicians, especially ones opposing incumbents like Trump, to clearly express how their polices will differ if they are elected. That way, it can lead to the idea of the mandate theory of elections that we learned about in the textbook reading. If Trump does get elected saying that he will replace Obamacare, then it would imply by this theory that the people want the healthcare system to change. While this applies more to single-issue voting, it may give Trump the ability to carry out this part of his platform if he is elected.
However, I feel as though the term "replacing" Obamacare is misleading. It isn't accurate to say Trump wants to replace Obamacare if he is not proposing an alternate government-provided program for medical insurance. It seems that Trump more so opposes Obamacare than he seeks to push for a reformed program.
When Donald Trump launched his presidency campaign for the 2016 election it was and is remembered by his famous line, "I would build a great wall, and nobody builds walls better than me, believe me, and I’ll build them very inexpensively. I will build a great great wall on our southern border and I’ll have Mexico pay for that wall." Fast forward 8 years and this so called promise never got delivered. Forgetting about the fact that he said Mexico would pay for the wall, Trump's genius idea of stopping immigrants from coming into the US from the southern border was to build a infamous wall. Fast forward to today and a big topic that will be addressed by presidential candidates for the 2024 election is immigration and particularly immigrants coming from the southern border. Clearly Trump's promise of stopping illegal immigration was broken and I have a feeling that this is just another one of his so called promises. Trump did not participate in the republican debates so he needs attention and usually when he needs attention he says and proposes big promises that he never keeps.
https://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/promises/trumpometer/promise/1397/build-wall-and-make-mexico-pay-it/
Former President Donald Trump is on top of the news again by saying he wants to find alternatives and replace Obamacare if he wins the 2024 election. This brings back memories of his 2017 attempt to get rid of the Affordable Care Act, which fell short. Democrats, led by President Biden, are pushing back, accusing Trump of trying to take away health insurance from millions of Americans. With over 40 million people, Any changes made to Obamacare would cause a rowdy reaction from all Americans benefiting from this financial friendly health care program. We're used to Trump saying things for shock factor in order to leave a longer lasting image in the public's mind, but in order for him to effectively convince all these people that his "alternative" idea is better, he's going to need more than promises and actually propose a skeletal outline for his idea for it to work
While doing research for my interest group project I encountered a source that essentially said that while the Republican party was initially against the implementation of large government healthcare programs like Medicare and Medicaid, the Republican party no longer focuses on making cuts to these programs because taking away healthcare resources is so unpopular with so many people who rely on those resources, especially the elderly (who benefit the most from Medicare) we know vote at much higher rates and are thus very important to please. Also, about Carole's comment saying that politicians should be more explicit in voicing the policy they intend to implement in order to lead to a clearer mandate theory of elections, I disagree with this premise being positive. While I do agree that politicians should be more explicit because it takes away the onus of doing heavy research to find out where politicians stand on certain issues off of the electorate, in this politically polarized 2 party system we currently have the mandate theory could be extremely detrimental. Many people are simply voting for Biden because they don't want to vote for Trump and vice versa because the alternative is essentially wasting your vote for a third-party candidate. I don't think a candidate's victory is representative of the majority of the American people actually supporting each individual plan that candidate has voiced, especially because people's opinions can differ between issues.
I find it surprising that Trump is continuing to make this a focal point of his proposed policy agenda as well as campaign as a whole considering the clear constituent support (all of the American people...) that is present in support of ObamaCare and all surrounding healthcare policies. Because of this, I find it unlikely that even with Republican support of Trump that such cuts will be able to pass through our legislatures floor as doing so even for Republicans could risk their ability to get re-elected due to the American support of the programs they are aiming to cut.
I think Aurin brings up a great point and it's important to keep this in the context of Donald Trump saying this; his campaign strategy back in 2016 was to rile up conservatives all around the country which led to greater conservative turnout than expected. This is probably just another thing he'll shout about during rallies to get conservatives who disliked Obama fired up. I think Trump knows that he won't have enough support within his own party to reverse Obamacare, so it'll give him an opportunity to complain about so-called "rhinos" which in turn will just fire up his supporters even more to support Trump and MAGA republicans.
I am very surprised that Trump is continuing to make this point even though he has had so little success previously. First off, it seems very difficult to get any support to get rid of this health care as so many people depend on it, especially elderly. Additionally, I don't think that many Republicans are even going to be that interested in pushing for this change as they saw the failures last time Trump tried. It just seems like everyone is fed up with Trump and this topic.
Trump's persistence in repealing the Affordable Care Act and replacing Obamacare is concerning. As many older citizens (60+) receive healthcare through the ACA, Trump is ultimately jeopardizing his re-election, especially among this important voter population. Considering his past failures and attempts with similar measures, it is doubtful that Republican lawmakers will be supportive and enthusiastic about championing such a change.
Why is Trump so obsessed with Obamacare… I swear this is the sixth time I’ve heard him proclaim to repeal and replace Obamacare/the Affordable Care Act (ACT) if he wins. Trump claims the cost is “out of control” and “not good healthcare,” yet it doesn’t provide any viable alternative, at least none that I am aware of. If he actually manages to pull through and repeal the ACT, many people who rely on it for more affordable healthcare insurance/pre-existing health conditions are going to be negatively affected. However, considering all his previous attempts have failed, I doubt this attempt will be any different.
I agree with Jessica here; Trump has been pretty vocal about replacing Obamacare ever since he first got elected in 2017, but hasn't been very clear on how he plans to do that. Funnily enough, Trump posted to Truth Social on Nov 28 of this year: “I don’t want to terminate Obamacare, I want to REPLACE IT with MUCH BETTER HEALTHCARE. Obamacare Sucks!!!” (Side note: Truth Social is a social media platform created by the former president himself after getting banned from most mainstream platforms after the Jan 6 insurrection--unfortunately following Elon Musk's takeover of Twitter I think Trump has been unbanned). Like everyone else in this comment section, I think his attempts are concerning but I doubt that he'll actually be able repeal/replace the Affordable Care Act, considering Obamacare has gotten even more popular since when he tried to remove it in 2017 and the fact that Republicans probably have bigger priorities on their plate right now. I won't deny that there are some pretty big issues with American healthcare in general (the CNN article linked below has some good critiques), but until I see Trump actually list a comprehensive plan to reform Obamacare in a somewhat reasonable manner that doesn't compromise the health of 40 million individuals, there's probably very little chance that his wishes will come true.
https://www.cnn.com/2023/11/29/politics/obamacare-trump-what-matters/index.html
https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/congress/trump-doubles-saying-obamacare-sucks-must-replaced-rcna126978
I agree with Jessica and Emily, I don't understand why Trump is so obsessed with Obamacare when he can't even win another term...Although he claims he wants to replace it, I am wondering what other programs he will provide that will supposedly be better than Obamacare. He claims he is looking for "alternatives," but if he is so serious about making the change, he should have everything planned out already; Trump makes very weak points--in my opinion.
Sometimes I wonder if Trump's ambiguity is a social experiment, is he purposefully chaotic so that he can get more attention from the media/ public to fuel his hope to become president again?
Trump’s desire to terminate Obamacare seems misguided and with disregard for the countless people it has helped. During the COVID-19 pandemic, there was renewed investment in Obamacare and other federal healthcare plans, and as a result, 35 million people were helped (CNN). Furthermore, 16.3 million people signed up early this year for Obamacare, breaking new records (New York Times). People need healthcare coverage, as displayed during the recent pandemic and requests for healthcare coverage. As a result, I agree with others in the comments Obamacare is unlikely to be repealed; with Biden in office and popular support and need for Obamacare. Previous attempts by Republican lawmakers to repeal Obamacare have failed and received little support. It is an extremely unpopular opinion, and I am curious to see how Trump’s attempts to repeal it will affect his campaign.
https://www.cnn.com/2022/04/29/politics/aca-obamacare-coverage-record/index.html
https://www.nytimes.com/2023/01/25/us/politics/obamacare-enrollment.html
https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2024-election/trump-revives-push-eliminate-obamacare-sparking-biden-campaign-pushbac-rcna126768
Trump seems so obsessed with repealing Obamacare which quite confuses me. I agree with Ben that amongst the extreme right-wing promises and statements he made during his 2016 election campaign, it certainly succeeded in riling up conservatives to vote for him and resulting in a turnout rate that allowed him to win the presidency. The thing is that he has failed to do anything about Obamacare- he failed to repeal it, got salty over John McCain's vote against the party and didn't attend the funeral, and also didn't have a solid plan for establishing a better healthcare system in his vision. I believe that sticking and obsessing over past legislation is not going to have the same effect in getting conservatives on his side again, but with the plans in place to expand the power of the presidency if he wins in 2024, he may be able to accomplish his promises, albeit arguably bad policy decisions. Unfortunately, even with Trump's indictments and corruption within his administration, he is fairing well in the polls, even beating Ron DeSantis, one of the more expected people of the Republican primary to win the nomination. I believe this shows how lost the Republican party is and the extent of their extremism.
In my opinion, the current extreme polarization of our political system is what pushes candidates to take unpopular stances like repealing Obamacare, even when it is opposed by such an influential portion of the electorate as the elderly. Candidates often seem to focus on differentiating themselves from their opponents and proposing massive change just because people are unsatisfied with the current state of government programs, even when their proposed solution (or in this case, no solution at all) may be a step in the wrong direction.
Once again we are hearing from Trump and his very idiotic proposes and promises. I still don't understnad how people support him when he has failed his supporters by not delivering his promises and making such chaotic claims. Trump always says that he is looking into many differnt alternatives that are much more better than the Obamacare but not once have we heard said alternatives. Trump himself porbably doesn't know those alternatives. It's also crazy and mindblowing that he is running for the 2024 election when he faces 40 felony charges and has been chraged in 4 criminal cases. Even though the Constitution has no limitations on criminal record for those running for president, I personally don't think someone like trump should even be considered to run a nation.
https://www.nytimes.com/article/trump-investigation-conviction.html
https://www.nytimes.com/article/trump-investigations-civil-criminal.html
I strongly agree with Amit and others who have expressed their attitudes toward the impact that Obamacare has had on tens of millions of Americans. The statistics provided regarding Obamacare dependency are also quite profound and interesting. I do find it absurd that Trump still wants to tackle Obamacare (despite Republican opposition and unwillingness, and if Trump even manages to win the 2024 election), but given that his supporter base is still deeply loyal to him, the chances of Trump's plan happening aren't necessarily low per se. Seeing healthcare reform being undone and the effect that it could have on tens of millions of Americans who truly need such care would be terrible to see.
I agree with a lot of the other comments made on this post. In order to appeal to conservative votes, we condemns the actions passed by every democratic person, regardless of if they are beneficial to people or not. Obamacare has impacted MILLIONS of people throughout our country with affordable healthcare. Knowing how Trump already removed parts of Obamacare during his term as president, it is pretty clear that if he gets reelected, his removal of Obamacare will become a priority. It will also set a tone for the rest of his presidency of removing healthcare reforms from Americans further polarizing our country.
Trump is known for his extreme stances and "threats" he directs at Democrates. While he has shown in his own term a wanting of removing healthcare, this might be just another one of his empty threats to rally republicans to support him.
The ongoing efforts by Trump to repeal the Affordable Care Act (ACA) and replace Obamacare raise concerns. Since a significant portion of older citizens, specifically those aged 60 and above, depend on the ACA for healthcare, Trump's push for repeal poses a risk to his chances of re-election, particularly among this crucial demographic. Given Trump's previous unsuccessful attempts and endeavors with similar measures, it seems unlikely that Republican lawmakers will wholeheartedly support and advocate for such a change.
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