Special Report: President Trump’s Broken Promises On Health Care
As a candidate, President Trump promised that, in replacing the Affordable Care Act, he would create a better health care system with lower costs, “insurance for everybody,” making all groups better off, and no changes to Medicare.
One hundred days into his presidency, President Trump has broken each and every one of these key health care promises – instead he would make our health care system much worse. Trumpcare would result in higher health costs for families, 24 million more uninsured Americans, an “age tax” that would leave Americans ages 50-64 much worse off, and depleting the Medicare Trust Fund by more than $100 billion.
And even though President Trump promised that pre-existing conditions would be fully protected, Trumpcare would completely gut protections for people with pre-existing conditions.
PRESIDENT TRUMP’S BROKEN PROMISES: LOWER HEALTH COSTS FOR AMERICAN FAMILIES
As a candidate and as President-elect, President Trump promised the American people a health care system that was “far less expensive” and “far better.” Yet, under Trumpcare, millions and millions of Americans would have to pay much more for their health care.
PROMISE: “FAR LESS EXPENSIVE” HEALTH CARE FOR EVERYONE
Then-Candidate Donald Trump: “[We will undertake] repealing Obamacare and replacing it with something far better for the people, and far less expensive both for the people and the country.” [Iowa Freedom Summit, 1/24/15]
Then-President-Elect Donald Trump: “We’re going to have a health care that is far less expensive and far better.” [President-Elect Trump Press Conference, 1/11/17]
BROKEN: AVERAGE OUT-OF-POCKET HEALTH COSTS WOULD INCREASE SIGNIFICANTLY UNDER TRUMPCARE
Center for American Progress: “We estimate that the House bill would increase costs for the average enrollee by $3,174 in 2020, when the new program would go into effect. The impact would be particularly severe for older individuals age 55 to 64, whose costs would increase by $8,329. Individuals with incomes below 250 percent of poverty would see their costs increase by $4,815.” [Center for American Progress, 3/16/17]
CNBC: “The top GOP bill to repeal and replace Obamacare would lead to people in states that voted heavily for President Donald Trump getting disproportionately less in the way of financial aid for their insurance plans than they do now. …. Leading those states is Alaska, where the difference between the average tax credit under Trumpcare would be $10,249 less than under Obamacare. That is followed by North Carolina, where customers on Obamacare now would get an average tax credit that is $5,360 less under Trumpcare. In South Dakota, which is 10th on the list, residents would get average tax credits that are $3,467 less than under Obamacare.” [CNBC, 3/14/17]
PROMISE: “MUCH LOWER DEDUCTIBLES” UNDER TRUMPCARE
Then-President-Elect Donald Trump: “Trump said [under] his plan for replacing most aspects of Obama’s health care law [there would be] ‘much lower deductibles.’” [Washington Post, 1/15/17]
BROKEN: CBO SAYS THAT DEDUCTIBLES WILL BE HIGHER UNDER THE TRUMPCARE BILL
CNBC: “President Donald Trump rode to the White House making big promises on health care… Now that the House GOP’s American Health Care Act (AHCA) is here, how do these pledges look? Not good, according to an analysis from the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office released on Monday. … As for lowering costs and deductibles, the CBO projects that ‘individuals’ cost-sharing payments, including deductibles, in the nongroup market would tend to be higher’ under the House bill. It runs afoul of Trump’s personal pledge just two months ago to lower deductibles.” [CNBC, 3/13/17]
PRESIDENT TRUMP’S BROKEN PROMISES: COVERAGE FOR EVERYONE
When he was on the campaign trail, President Trump promised that his health care plan would provide “insurance for everybody.” And yet the Trumpcare bill he is promoting would actually reduce coverage – resulting in 24 million more uninsured Americans..
PROMISE: “INSURANCE FOR EVERYBODY” UNDER TRUMPCARE
Then-Candidate Donald Trump: “’Everybody’s got to be covered. … I am going to take care of everybody.” [60 Minutes, CBS, 9/27/15]
Then-President-Elect Donald Trump: “’We’re going to have insurance for everybody,’ Trump said. ‘There was a philosophy in some circles that if you can’t pay for it, you don’t get it. That’s not going to happen with us.’” [Washington Post, 1/15/17]
BROKEN: TRUMPCARE WOULD RESULT IN 24 MILLION MORE UNINSURED AMERICANS
Daily Beast: “The Trump-endorsed American Health Care Act authored by House Speaker Paul Ryan will lead to millions more Americans being uninsured, according to a formal estimate released Monday by the Congressional Budget Office. The grisly assessment will further imperil legislation that is already being heavily criticized by other Republicans. The CBO found that by next year, 14 million more people would be uninsured, rising to 24 million in 2026.” [Daily Beast, 3/13/17]
PRESIDENT TRUMP’S BROKEN PROMISES: ALL GROUPS WILL BE MUCH BETTER OFF
As a candidate, President Trump promised that, under his health care plan, “everybody is going to be taken care of much better than they’re taken care of now.” And yet, in these first 100 days, the Trumpcare bill he is promoting makes certain groups much worse off – including people ages 50-64 and people with low incomes.
PROMISE: EVERYBODY WILL BE BETTER OFF UNDER OBAMACARE REPLACEMENT
Then-Candidate Donald Trump: “Everybody’s going to be taken care of much better than they’re taken care of now [under the Obamacare replacement].”[60 Minutes, CBS, 9/27/15]
BROKEN: AMERICANS AGES 50-64 WOULD PAY AN AGE TAX UNDER TRUMPCARE, FORCING THEM TO PAY PREMIUMS FIVE TIMES HIGHER THAN WHAT OTHERS PAY
AARP: “This bill [Trumpcare], if passed in its current form, will disproportionately hurt older adults between the ages of 50 and 64 by dramatically increasing insurance premiums to unaffordable rates. Allowing insurance companies to charge older adults an Age Tax 5 times or more than others for health insurance, and reducing tax credits to pay for it, is simply unfair.” [AARP Press Release, 3/17/17]
PRESIDENT TRUMP’S BROKEN PROMISES: MEDICARE WILL BE FULLY PROTECTED
During the campaign, President Trump promised older voters that he would fully protect Medicare in his health care plan – with no changes to Medicare. And yet, in the first 100 days, his Trumpcare bill would take more than $100 billion out of the Medicare Trust Fund, thereby shortening the life of the Trust Fund by three years.
PROMISE: MEDICARE WILL NOT BE TOUCHED
Then-Candidate Donald Trump in November 2016: “I am going to protect and save your Social Security and your Medicare. You made a deal a long time ago.” [AARP, 1/30/17]
BROKEN: TRUMPCARE TAKES MORE THAN $100 BILLION OUT OF THE MEDICARE TRUST FUND, SHORTENING THE LIFE OF THE TRUST FUND
Kaiser Family Foundation: “However, the AHCA would repeal the Medicare payroll surtax on high-income earners, along with virtually all other tax and revenue provisions in the ACA. Repealing this surtax would reduce the revenue to the Medicare Hospital Insurance (Part A) trust fund by $117 billion between 2017 and 2026, according to the Joint Committee on Taxation. It would also weaken Medicare’s financial status by depleting the Part A trust fund three years sooner than under current law, moving up the projected insolvency date from 2028 to 2025, based on estimates by Medicare’s actuaries.” [KFF, 3/14/17]
PRESIDENT TRUMP’S BROKEN PROMISES: PROTECTIONS FOR PRE-EXISTING CONDITIONS
Finally, as a candidate, President Trump promised that his health care plan would retain the protections for people with pre-existing conditions in the Affordable Care Act. Yet, the provisions in the latest version of the Trumpcare bill, revealed on April 20, show that the bill would completely gut these protections. And yet President Trump has been urging the House to quickly bring this latest version of the bill up this week or next week.
PROMISE: PEOPLE WITH PRE-EXISTING CONDITIONS WILL STILL GET COVERAGE
Then-President-Elect Donald Trump: QUESTION: “Let me ask you about Obamacare, which you say you’re going to repeal and replace. When you replace it, are you going to make sure that people with pre-conditions are still covered?” TRUMP: “Yes, because it happens to be one of the strongest assets…” [60 Minutes, CBS, 11/13/16]
President Trump: “First, we should ensure that Americans with pre-existing conditions have access to coverage and that we have a stable transition for Americans currently enrolled in the healthcare exchanges.” [Trump Address to Joint Session of Congress, 2/28/17]
BROKEN: LATEST TRUMPCARE PROPOSAL COMPLETELY GUTS THE PROTECTIONS FOR PEOPLE WITH PRE-EXISTING CONDITIONS
New York Times: “In the days before Obamacare, applying for health insurance meant filling out dozens of pages of forms and submitting medical records. It was almost impossible to compare prices. Your premium might be set higher for a large number of reasons, including if your child was overweight. This could be the future in some states under the Republican proposal to overhaul the health law. … States could waive a closely related rule that requires insurers to charge the same prices to healthy and sick customers of the same age. States could also exempt insurers from offering the ‘essential health benefits’ currently required. To compensate, states would have to set up special insurance markets for sick customers called high risk pools. … In states with waivers, the health insurance market of the future might look substantially like the market of the past, where buying health insurance meant jumping through various hoops and where sicker patients struggled to find affordable coverage.” [New York Times, 4/21/17]
Cancer Action Network-American Cancer Society: “The American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network (ACS CAN) is deeply concerned about a proposed amendment to the American Health Care Act (AHCA) that would create an option for states to obtain waivers from the Essential Health Benefits (EHB) and the community rating rules. These two rules work together to guarantee access to comprehensive and affordable insurance that covers cancer prevention and treatment for patients and survivors with pre-existing conditions. … In short, the proposal could lead to bare bones coverage plans that push significant costs onto patients who access care.” [Cancer Action Network-American Cancer Society Press Release/Letter, 4/20/17]
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