5 Lies President Trump Told About Healthcare
In his first five months as President of the United States, Donald Trump has already made a new name for himself: “Liar.” Over the weekend, the New York Times used a full page to print (nearly) all the lies Mr. Trump has told since taking office in January. With the release of the Senate’s proposed healthcare plan, the Better Care Reconciliation Act (BCRA), here is a look at 5 lies Mr. Trump told regarding healthcare in particular.
1. “Insurance for everybody!”
Donald Trump claimed on the campaign trail that “everyone” would be insured under his healthcare policy. While he refused to admit that he was promoting a single-payer system, Trump told Scott Pelley on 60 Minutes that “everybody’s got to be covered.” Under the newly-proposed BCRA, however, this is simply not the plan. As the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) reported, about 49 million Americans will be uninsured under the BCRA by 2026, compared to 27 million who are currently uninsured.
2. “No one will lose coverage”
During the campaign, Donald Trump vowed that “no one will lose coverage” under his healthcare policy. As the CBO reported today, however, 22 million Americans will become uninsured under the BCRA by 2026. So while Mr. Trump said “I am going to take care of everybody. I don’t care if it costs me votes or not,” he clearly did not mean exactly that.
3. “No cuts to Medicaid”
During his campaign in 2016, Donald Trump repeatedly said he would not make cuts to Medicaid under his healthcare policies. If the new BCRA passes, however, deep cuts to Medicaid will be made. In fact, as Senator Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) tweeted that the “GOP is hiding the worst Medicaid cuts in years 11, 12, 13 and hoping CBO stays quiet.”
According to the Washington Post, under the BCRA, Medicaid funding would be cut by about $770 billion over the next decade. This is a far cry from “no cuts.”
4. “Nobody will be worse off financially”
Donald Trump’s Secretary of Health and Human Services, Tom Price, argued that under Trump’s Obamacare replacement plan, “nobody will be worse off financially.” However, under the BCRA, premiums for elderly, low-income people will rise by 280 percent. The CBO does not evaluate financial situations at an individual level, but by looking at their broad evaluations of the proposed BCRA, it’s clear that somebody will be worse off financially under the bill.
5. “Repeal and replace with something terrific!”
During his campaign, Donald Trump said that he would repeal and replace Obamacare with “something terrific,” although he did not specify as to what such a replacement plan would look like. Since then, however, Trump’s attitude towards his healthcare policy is not as clear. After the House of Representatives released their proposed healthcare plan, the American Health Care Act of 2017, President Trump said the bill was “mean.”
Now, President Trump says he hopes the healthcare bill in its final form will “have a heart.”
