| As Donald Trump enters his first week in office after enriching himself on the backs of his supporters by making billions through a new cryptocurrency grift, he’s made his plans clear from the start: he will screw over Americans at every turn in order to benefit himself and his billionaire friends.
Donald Trump’s first order of business? Screwing over Americans with an anti-health care agenda, immediately rescinding President Biden’s EO on lowering prescription drug prices, putting the Affordable Care Act on the chopping block, cutting essential programs like Medicare and Medicaid, and undermining women’s reproductive rights. DNC Senior Spokesperson Hannah Muldavin released the following statement:
“The first time he was in office, Donald Trump was one vote away from ripping away the Affordable Care Act, and now that more Americans than ever before have coverage under the ACA, he’s back to put it on the chopping block again. Trump’s ‘concepts’ of a health care plan are making prescription drugs more expensive by immediately rescinding President Biden’s ‘Lowering Prescription Drug Costs for Americans’ executive order, gutting Medicare and Medicaid, screwing over millions of people with preexisting conditions, and doubling down on further undermining reproductive rights after getting Roe v. Wade overturned. Democrats won’t stand by as Trump tries to scam America out of our health care.”
NEW: Only hours after he was sworn in, Trump immediately rescinded President Biden’s executive order that called for lowering prescription drug costs for people on Medicare or Medicaid.
KFF Health News: “Hours Into Presidency, Trump Rescinds Attempts To Lower Prescription Costs, Rolls Back Some ACA Rules”
“Trump also halted some prescription cost-saving efforts for people on Medicare and Medicaid, which might stall momentum for Medicare drug pricing negotiations.”
Trump has repeatedly promised to “terminate” the Affordable Care Act, which could rip away access to lifesaving care from 40 million hardworking Americans who couldn’t otherwise afford it.
NBC News: “Millions at risk of losing health insurance after Trump’s victory”
Daily Beast: “Trump Revives Plan to Dismantle Obamacare if Elected in 2024”
In his first term, Trump immediately tried to get rid of the ACA in his first term — and was only one vote short in Congress from repealing it.
NPR: “The very day President Trump was sworn in — Jan. 20, 2017 — he signed an executive order instructing administration officials ‘to waive, defer, grant exemptions from, or delay’ implementing parts of the Affordable Care Act, while Congress got ready to repeal and replace President Obama’s signature health law.”
The Hill: “On the campaign trail, Trump has doubled down on his promise to repeal the ACA, a feat he fell one vote short of in 2017.”
Reuters: “The most previous attempt to repeal Obamacare fell one vote short in July, in a humiliating setback for Trump and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell.”
In his first term, Trump hand-picked Supreme Court justices who killed Roe v. Wade — and backed a national abortion ban that he tried to push through Congress.
NBC News: “Trump: ‘I was able to kill Roe v. Wade’”
Trump in 2023: “Getting rid of Roe v. Wade was an incredible thing for pro-life because it gave pro-life something to negotiate with. Pro-life had absolutely nothing, being stuck in Roe v. Wade, to negotiate with. … And look, everybody that was president wanted to get rid and tried to get rid of Roe v. Wade … For fifty years, this has been going on. I was able to do it, and I was very honored to do it.”
Washington Post: “With Trump’s backing, House approves ban on abortion after 20 weeks of pregnancy”
The Hill: “President Trump on Friday called on the Senate to pass a bill banning abortions after 20 weeks.”
Yahoo! Life: “President Trump is pushing for a 20-week abortion ban”
Trump has promised to carry out an extreme, anti-choice agenda that would further rip away women’s access to lifesaving reproductive care — from draconian abortion bans, surveilling pregnancies, and banning medication abortion.
Rolling Stone: “Inside the MAGA Plan to Attack Birth Control, Surveil Women and Ban the Abortion Pill”
Interviewer: “Are you comfortable if states decide to punish women who access abortions after the procedure is banned?”
[…]
Trump: “Again, that’s going to be—I don’t have to be comfortable or uncomfortable. The states are going to make that decision. The states are going to have to be comfortable or uncomfortable, not me.”
[…]
Interviewer: “Prosecuting women for getting abortions after the ban. But are you comfortable with it?”
Trump: “The states are going to say. It’s irrelevant whether I’m comfortable or not. It’s totally irrelevant, because the states are going to make those decisions.”
New York Times: “Trump Privately Expresses Support for a 16-Week Abortion Ban”
Sahil Kapur: “The Supreme Court justices who overturned Roe v. Wade didn’t just send the issue back to ‘the states.’ They also sent it back to Congress, which can now restrict or ban abortion nationwide. The president has the power to sign or veto any such bills.”
Trump’s second term will be a disaster for those who rely on Medicare or Medicaid for access to health care — his MAGA agenda will gut these critical programs for millions of Americans.
KFF Health News: “Trump’s Return Puts Medicaid on the Chopping Block”
“Under President Joe Biden, enrollment in Medicaid hit a record high and the uninsured rate reached a record low.
“Donald Trump’s return to the White House — along with a GOP-controlled Senate and House of Representatives — is expected to change that.”
“Republicans in Washington say they plan to use funding cuts and regulatory changes to dramatically shrink Medicaid, the nearly $900-billion-a-year government health insurance program that, along with the related Children’s Health Insurance Program, serves about 79 million mostly low-income or disabled Americans.”
In his first term, Trump called for gutting Medicare and Medicaid in every single one of his budget proposals — and we can expect more of the same in his second term.
Washington Post: “Each of his White House budget proposals included cuts to Social Security and Medicare programs.”
New York Times, 2017: “Trump’s Budget Cuts Deeply Into Medicaid and Anti-Poverty Efforts”
“Over the next decade, it calls for slashing more than $800 billion from Medicaid, the federal health program for the poor, while slicing $192 billion from nutritional assistance and $272 billion over all from welfare programs.”
Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, 2018: “Less than two months after signing massive tax cuts that largely benefit those at the top of the economic ladder, President Trump has put forward a 2019 budget that cuts basic assistance that millions of families struggling to get by need to help pay the rent, put food on the table, and get health care.
“The budget doubles down in both areas. It cuts Medicaid and subsidies for private coverage in the marketplace by $763 billion over the next decade, with cuts reaching $172 billion annually by 2028.”
Vox, 2019: “Trump said he wouldn’t cut Medicaid, Social Security, and Medicare. His 2020 budget cuts all 3.”
Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, 2020: “Trump’s 2021 Budget Would Cut $1.6 Trillion From Low-Income Programs”
“Low-income programs face $1.2 trillion, or 57 percent, of the budget’s proposed $2.2 trillion in ten-year cuts to mandatory programs, despite making up only a quarter of all federal spending on mandatory programs. Medicaid and related programs and SNAP face particularly deep cuts.”
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