Medicare-for-all v. Medicare-to-less: Trump's proposed cuts put health care at the center of the 2020 race

In states where the elderly population is important, such as Florida, political attacks against cutbacks in Medicare have been so effective that both parties have used them. Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.) Won his seat after publishing ads last year accusing Democrat Bill Nelson of having voted in favor of a diet cut. Health Insurance.

Trump is likely to win Florida, Arizona, Pennsylvania and other states with a large number of seniors in order to be reelected in 2020. Older Americans still vote at a higher rate than the Americans. Younger Americans.

Since taking office, Trump has largely left medicare and other programs heavily used by seniors. Republicans have followed his example by abandoning earlier proposals to raise the retirement age or impose other restrictions to cut costs and reduce public debt by $ 22 trillion.

While announcing his candidacy for the presidency in June 2015, Trump said he would "save Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security without cuts." He added that it was "unfair" to remove the program in which people have been paying for many years, and that he would save it "by making us rich again" and by reducing waste, fraud and abuse.

The White House said on Monday that the Trump budget, which calls for changing hospital reimbursement rates and saving money on drug prices, is not a reduction in Medicare or a structural change to the program.

"It does not reduce medicare in this budget," Russell Vought, acting director of the Office of Management and Budget, told reporters at the White House. "Medicare expenses will increase each year by healthy margins, and there will be no structural changes for Medicare beneficiaries."

But Trump's savings under Medicare are more than three times higher than his previous budget, and industry lobbies have said the cuts would hurt hospitals and seniors.

"The impact on care for the elderly would be devastating," said Chip Kahn, president and CEO of the Federation of American Hospitals, in a statement. "Hospitals are becoming less able to cover Medicare patient care costs, so it's not time to dump Medicare."

Many candidates in the Democratic presidential election have adopted a version of the Medicare system for all, which would allow most Americans to be covered by the federal program.

Trump and his Republican allies were on the offensive in health care in recent months, after several Democrat candidates struggled to find out how they would pay for universal coverage and allow Americans to keep their insurance. private.

"Just this week, more than 100 congressional Democrats have signed up for a socialist takeover of American health care," Trump said at the start of the conservative political action conference, saying that a plan Medicare for all "would remove the private coverage of more than 180 million Americans."

Democratic strategists and Democratic officials argued on Monday that Trump's budget proposal showed Republicans' lack of credibility in the health care debate and showed signs of confidence that it would enhance the contrast that Democrats are seeking to address. to do in the run-up to the 2020 elections.

"It totally eviscerates the integrity of their already fragile attack," said Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.). "This attack on Medicare exposes the real Republican agenda of destroying the safety net of health care. Their attack on Democrats is not supported by an intellectual foundation or intellectual integrity if they make that kind of proposal. "

Republicans and tax conservatives have strongly criticized the president's proposal, which would not balance the federal budget until 2034. Republicans have long called for greater changes to Medicare and other mandatory spending programs that are the main drivers of the national debt.

"President Trump has the right mindset about his proposed budget," said Adam Brandon, president of FreedomWorks, a conservative group. "However, the Congress must give priority to the reform of the system of rights and privileges if we want to tackle in the long term the growing public debt of the country."

In mid-term elections last year, Democrats led an aggressive health care campaign, attacking Republicans for their unsuccessful efforts to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act. The momentum marked a shift from the previous two mid-term elections, during which the GOP was the party mainly accused of health-related offenses, criticizing the Democrats against the creation of the party. ACA, also known as Obamacare.

The latest health insurance talks mark a new chapter in partisan debate. Many Democrats are eager to continue to put health care at the forefront of national discussions. Democratic presidential candidates "should raise this issue morning, noon and night," said Blumenthal, who co-sponsored a Medicare-for-all proposal at the last convention.

Democratic presidential candidates on Monday seized Trump's budget framework, highlighting Medicare cuts.

"This budget speaks volumes about the president's priorities: cut $ 845 billion in Medicare, while spending billions on his vanity project, the wall," said Senator Kamala D. Harris (D-Calif.), Referring to Trump's request regarding the construction of a wall funding. "This would hurt our elders and is further proof of why we need a new president."

Trump's cuts to Medicare were a "huge gift for the Democrats," said Dan Pfeiffer, director of communications at the White House under President Obama.

"It's a political escape from the Republican side in that this budget is going nowhere," he said. "The previous argument was the Democrats' plan against the status quo. And now it's the Democrats' plan against the Republican plan to cut Medicare. "

Senator Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii) said on Twitter: "One party wants to develop Medicare and Medicaid and the other wishes to delete them. This is the end of my tweet. "