There Is Still No Trumpcare, Despite Trump's Repeated Promises In The Debate
President Donald Trump was at it again on Thursday night, promising to protect health care for many millions of Americans while he’s actually trying to take it away.
The vow came during the second and final 2020 presidential debate, which was held in Nashville, Tennessee. Moderator Kristen Welker, from MSNBC, asked Trump how he would respond if the Supreme Court strikes down the Affordable Care Act, taking coverage away from an estimated 21 million people and throwing the health care system into chaos.
It’s a real possibility because the court is hearing a new challenge to the law one week after the election. And by that time, Trump appointee Amy Coney Barrett is likely to be on the bench.
“It is in court because Obamacare is no good,” Trump said. And if the court does throw it out, he said, he had a plan to give the American people “brand new, beautiful health care” while “always protecting people with preexisting conditions.”
The lawsuit against the ACA originally came from 20 Republican state officials, but it has Trump’s support. He instructed the Justice Department to file briefs supporting it, even though sitting administrations typically defend all federal statutes in court.
And that was just one instance of Trump trying to get rid of “Obamacare.”
He spent the first year of his presidency trying furiously to push repeal legislation through Congress and, when that failed, he tried to use his executive authority to undermine the law ― by, for example, slashing outreach funds or promoting work requirements in Medicaid that would limit enrollment in the Affordable Care Act’s expansion of the program.
Trump has throughout these efforts made claims like he did on Thursday night ― that he would make sure there was “insurance for everybody” and that coverage would be cheaper and more secure than it was already.
He’s also made very specific promises to protect people with preexisting conditions, and last month he...
