They promised to bring these costs down, to provide, as Donald Trump insisted he would, coverage that was “much less expensive and much better.”
And meanwhile, they promised to keep the things people liked about Obamacare (whether
or not voters knew they were getting those good things because of Obamacare).
Even without a proper analysis, however, it’s clear that Trumpcare breaks every promise Republicans ever made about health.
Tens of millions would lose access to health coverage,
but — according to independent estimates of an earlier version of Trumpcare — people with incomes over $1 million would save an average of more than $50,000 a year.
As far as I can tell, every word Republicans, from Trump on down, have said about their bill — about why they want to replace Obamacare, about what their replacement would do,
and about how it would work — is a lie, including “a,” “and” and “the.”
And what does it say about the state of American politics
that a majority of the representatives of one of our major political parties have gone along with this nightmarish process?
Before taking back the White House, Republicans attacked Obamacare for many things.
Premiums may fall for a handful of young, healthy, affluent people,
but will rise and in many cases soar for those who are older (because age spreads will rise), sicker (because protection against discrimination based on medical history will be taken away), and poorer (because subsidies will go down).
Obamacare was debated and analyzed for many months; Trumpcare was thrown together so fast it’s
hard to believe any significant number of those voting for it even had time to read it.