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President Trump attends a signing ceremony of health protection measures in the Roosevelt Hall of the White House on the same day Wednesday USA today published a column of opinion on the subject by the president.
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President Trump attends a signing ceremony of health protection measures in the Roosevelt Hall of the White House on the same day Wednesday USA today published a column of opinion on the subject by the president.
Win McNamee / Getty Images
USA today Wednesday issued a column of President Trump's opinion in which the president wrongly accuses Democrats of trying to "eviscerate" Medicare, while defending his own record of protecting health care coverage health care for the elderly and others.
The column – published a few weeks before the mid-term elections – highlights the political power of health care to energize voters. But he makes a number of unsubstantiated claims.
Here are 5 things to know:
1. The political context: Health care became a dominant topic in the election campaign that preceded the November elections. According to the Wesleyan Media Project, which monitors congressional advertising, health care was a top priority in 41% of campaign announcements in September, surpassing taxes (20%), jobs (13%) and advertising. immigration (9%). Democrats are particularly focused on health care, spending 50% of their advertising on the issue, but health care also occupies a prominent place in Republican advertising (28%), just behind taxes (32%).
Perhaps feeling that Democrats are gaining ground, Trump has decided to continue the attack and is targeting the Democratic proposal known as "Medicare for All".
2. Cost of the plan: Trump says the expansion of the federal health insurance program $ 32.6 trillion over a decade. But as Business Insider reports, it would actually be a discount compared to the current health care bill of the nation.
The Trump figure was calculated by the Libertarian Mercatus Center, but it fails to note that total Medicare for All spending on health care would rise to about $ 2 trillion. Less during the decade than currently planned. The federal government would pay more, but the Americans, overall, would pay less.
Remember that the United States already spends a lot more per person on health care than any other country. And when you count tax relief for insurance provided by the employer, the federal government already pays about two-thirds of this bill. But because of the fragmented private insurance system, the government does not benefit from either the efficiency or the purchasing power that a single payer system would provide.
3. Rationing health care: Trump asserts – with no evidence to support – that "the Democratic plan would inevitably lead to massive rationing of health care.Physicians and hospitals would be put away from the business. access to their favorite doctors Waiting lines would be long appointments and procedures The previously covered care would actually be refused. "
The detailed implementation of any single payer plan would of course be subject to extensive negotiations. But the Bill Medicare for All drafted by Senator Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., States explicitly that: "Nothing in this law prohibits an institutional or individual provider from entering into a private contract with a registered individual for a product or service "outside the plan.
4. Pre-existing conditions: Trump notes that as a candidate, he "promised that we would protect the coverage of patients with preexisting conditions". In fact, Trump and his Republican compatriots have tried – unsuccessfully – to repeal the Affordable Care Act, which guarantees insurance coverage to people with pre-existing conditions. GOP plans would leave States to design alternative protections. In addition, Republican attorneys general filed a lawsuit to overturn Obamacare's protections, and the Trump government refused to defend them.
America's Health Insurance Plans, the professional group of the insurance industry, warns that removing the Obamacare guarantee could cause hardship for the approximately 130 million Americans under 65 with pre-existing conditions.
"The removal of these provisions will lead to further uncertainty in the individual market, create a patchwork of requirements in the states, push rates to further increase for older Americans and sicker patients, and complicate the situation." introduction of products and tariffs for 2019 ", AHIP said in a statement in June.
5. Medicare Strength: Trump writes that "Democrats have already hurt older people by slashing Medicare by more than $ 800 billion over 10 years to pay Obamacare." Similarly, Democrats would weaken Medicare with their plans to take over American health care through government".
It repeats a widely debated assertion during the 2012 elections. The Affordable Care Act has actually boosted the solvency of Medicare, but it has since been further weakened by the GOP tax cut.
The president tries to play on the fears of the elderly – who vote in large numbers – saying that any effort to improve the safety of young Americans must be done at their expense. But it's a false choice.
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