Trump emphasizes rising Obamacare costs
Clinton picks up an endorsement from Colin Powell
DORAL, Florida — Suddenly armed with fresh political ammunition, Donald Trump and anxious Republicans across the nation seized on spiking health care costs Tuesday in a final-days effort to spark election momentum.
The Republican presidential nominee, trekking across must-win Florida, insisted “Obamacare is just blowing up” after the government projected sharp cost increases for President Barack Obama’s signature health care law. Democrat Hillary Clinton, fighting to block Trump in the same battleground state, vowed to preserve insurance for the millions of Americans covered under the law, but her team described the cost surge as a “big concern.”
Renewed emphasis on health care gave battered Republican House and Senate candidates a brief respite from months of painful questions about their presidential nominee, who has questioned the integrity of the U.S. election system while facing personal allegations of sexual misconduct. Trump has denied any wrongdoing.
“My first day in office I’m going to ask Congress to put a bill on my desk getting rid of this disastrous law,” a fiery Trump told thousands of voters gathered at an airport along the Interstate-4 corridor.
Blessed with an unexpected political gift, however, it’s unclear whether Trump will be able to capitalize.
“He could make this race for the last two weeks a referendum on Obamacare. But of course he won’t do that,” said former Ted Cruz strategist Chris Wilson. “It’s just a matter of him swatting at flies instead of having a coherent and consistent message.”
The Department of Health and Human Services reported late Monday that premiums will go up sharply next year under the federal health care program, and many consumers will have just one choice for their insurer. Before federal subsidies, premiums for a mid-level benchmark plan will increase an average of 25 percent across the 39 states served by the federally run online market. Some states will see much bigger jumps, others less.
Republicans have been fighting the president’s health care law since 2010 with little political success. Yet in a campaign dominated by Trump’s controversies, vulnerable Republicans across the nation are eager to latch onto a familiar conservative cause.
Several Republicans in difficult races leapt at Tuesday’s rate hike, including Sen. Kelly Ayotte in New Hampshire and Roy Blunt in Missouri. Fighting a challenge from New Hampshire Gov. Maggie Hassan, Ayotte’s campaign asked: “Will Hassan continue to stand in lock-step with Hillary Clinton and her party in support of the failing law?”
Clinton did not address the cost surges during an afternoon rally on the Broward College campus in Coconut Creek.
Noting the diverse crowd, she said: “I bet some of you or maybe your parents or grandparents came from places where none of that was true.” She said Trump was “attacking everything that has set our country apart for 240 years.”
Also Tuesday, Clinton picked up the endorsement of former Secretary of State Colin Powell, a Republican who announced his intention to vote for her during an appearance in New York.