Opposition to Trumpcare

by Stephen Lendman

Trump was partly right, saying Obamacare is "a complete and total disaster." He's dead wrong, calling his plan "wonderful."

It makes a failed system worse if enacted in its current form. It's more deform than reform. Straightaway, healthcare providers expressed opposition for good reason.

It works for high net worth households, not for others, America's most vulnerable grievously harmed. 

It's "wonderful" for sickness industry predators, putting profits over people needs. Obamacare left 30 million Americans uninsured, millions more way underinsured. 

Greater numbers will have no coverage under Trumpcare or be dangerously uninsured, unable to handle the cost of serious health problems.

Physicians for a National Health Program (PNHP) called the American Health Care Act (Trumpcare) "a major step backward in health policy, compounding the problems of uninsurance and underinsurance while handing over hundreds of billions of dollars to the wealthiest 2 percent of Americans," saying the measure:

"channel(s) billions of taxpayer dollars through wasteful private insurers;"

cuts vitally needed subsidies for low-income households;

ends ACA's "cost-sharing subsidies for copayments and deductibles, increasing the cost of care for those with chronic medical conditions;"

replaces ACA's penalty on the uninsured with "cost-sharing subsidies for copayments and deductibles, increasing the cost of care for those with chronic medical conditions;"

beginning in 2020, slashes Medicaid's expansion and caps spending, "squeez(ing) state Medicaid budgets and pushing millions of enrollees out of the program;"

promotes Health Savings Accounts, mostly benefiting high-income households;

cuts taxes on insurers, drug companies and medical device makers;

cuts them for America's privileged class.

Trumpcare is more regressive than Obamacare. Single-payer "Medicare for All reform could effectively control costs while creating a right to high-quality health care for everyone in America," PNHP explained.

Associations representing America's hospitals and the AARP oppose Trumpcare - fearing greater numbers of uninsured and underinsured will adversely affect their bottom line.

The American Medical Association opposes it for the same reason. These groups supported Obamacare instead of vitally needed single-payer universal coverage for all Americans - everyone in, no one left out, the only equitable system.

Stephen Lendman lives in Chicago. He can be reached at lendmanstephen@sbcglobal.net. 

His new book as editor and contributor is titled "Flashpoint in Ukraine: How the US Drive for Hegemony Risks WW III."

http://www.claritypress.com/LendmanIII.html

Visit his blog site at sjlendman.blogspot.com. 

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