Back in January, Donald Trump told the Washington Post "We're going to have insurance for everybody." Of course, the subsequent nine months have been punctuated by his party attempting to ram through legislation that would result in a massive loss of overall coverage. The "insurance for everybody" claim was clearly just a talking point, nobody in the republican party has any interest in providing universal coverage.
These wildly unpopular Obamacare replacement bills the republicans keep introducing are continually framed as ways to fix Obamacare while simultaneously increasing coverage. But by every analysis, they would do neither. This includes the latest bill ping-ponging around the Senate: Graham-Cassidy.
Trump, to the surprise of no one, has thrown his support behind this bill, hoping to finally get a win. But there's more to it than that. Trump is a reactionary human being, he was a reactionary candidate, and he's been a reactionary president.
It was never about fixing Obamacare, it was about deleting it.
Case in point, this Tweet from yesterday:
It's all in those last two words.
If a legislator wants the president's support on a new health care bill, there is only one requirement: it needs to end Obamacare. That's it. I would love to hear Trump explain what this bill does and why it is, as he so eloquently put it "GREAT!"
Later on in the day, proving he does not know the ins and out of Graham-Cassidy, he Tweeted this:
Graham-Cassidy does not include any real protections for people with pre-existing conditions, it only pretends like it does. In addition to cutting subsidies dramatically and decimating Medicaid, states can apply for waivers to opt out of Obamacare's primary provisions which include pre-existing condition protections and mandatory coverage for essential health benefits. The "protection" Graham, Cassidy and co. continually tout is one line of the bill which states that a waiver will only be granted if a state explains how they "[intend] to maintain access to adequate and affordable health insurance coverage for individuals with pre-existing conditions."
This is not a concrete protection as "affordable" and "adequate" are flexible terms, and waiver approval would be left up to Obamacare-hating Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price. If this bill passes, it's not only possible, but quite likely that many Americans with pre-existing conditions will end up paying significantly more for coverage that will not be nearly as comprehensive.
Trump doesn't care about the details, his entire campaign was built around dismantling Obama's legacy. From birtherism on through to MAGA, Trump has been concerned with one thing: revenge.
Revenge for and on the first black president.
Written by Jesse Mechanic
Previously published on The Overgrown.
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