Donald Trump and the GOP have spent this entire year attacking the American people’s health care. Time and time again, they tried to pass Trumpcare, which would have gutted not just the Affordable Care Act, but Medicaid as well. Every time, grassroots activists around the country responded with massive resistance. That resistance has been able to stop several iterations of Trumpcare.
Having failed to pass a terrible health care repeal bill through legislative means, Trump is now taking a different tack. Yesterday, he announced that he would be taking several steps to undermine and sabotage the ACA. He will be cutting off the Affordable Care Act’s cost sharing payments, which will destabilize the insurance markets and lead to higher premiums for millions of Americans.
The CBO reports that cutting off payments would increase premiums 25 percent by 2020 and cause 1 million Americans to become uninsured. But that’s not enough for Donald Trump. He has also issued an executive order that allows insurance companies to sell “garbage plans” that don’t cover pre-existing conditions or basic health care needs.
This is a recipe for disaster in the ACA marketplaces. Trump’s elimination of the cost sharing payments will drive up premiums and could force many consumers to buy the new “garbage plans,” the only ones they can afford. But if they get sick or have an accident, those plans will fail them.
Imagine going to the hospital with an injury such as a broken arm, only to learn that your insurance plan will not cover treatment. That’s the fate that awaits millions of Americans if Trump is allowed to get away with his sabotage. People aged 55-64 are particularly at risk, since 84 percent of them have a pre-existing condition.
Congress has the ability to stop Trump’s sabotage by passing legislation that would ensure that the cost sharing payments are funded, stabilizing the marketplaces and bringing down premiums. The American people need to rise up, just as they did against Trumpcare, and demand that our elected officials do just that.
Several Republican members of Congress, such as Rep. Tom Reed (R-NY), have already realized that if Trump is successful in destroying the ACA’s health care marketplaces, voters will know exactly who to blame. Those members have come out against Trump’s sabotage. Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-TN) and Sen. Patty Murray (D-WA) are in the process of negotiating a bipartisan bill. But for a bill to pass, Republicans around the country need to hear just how angry the American people are.
Call both of your senators and your representative today at 202-224-3121. Demand that they immediately pass legislation to stop Trump’s health care sabotage. Then, call back the next day and the day after that. Hammer home the message that any member of Congress who is complicit in Trump’s destruction of health care will face the consequences come election time. We the people stopped Trumpcare, and we the people can stop the sabotage.
