Trump’s 101st day filled with tough talk
President blames the Democrats for inaction on key issues
President Trump shifted the blame for inaction on key issues including health care to Democrats in a lengthy and wide-ranging CBS interview that aired Sunday.
Trump told Face the Nation anchor John Dickerson that the job is “something that I really love and I think I’ve done a very good job at it.”
Trump maintained there is yet another version of the American Health Care Act, House Republicans’ plan to replace the Affordable Care Act, and blamed obstruction by Democrats for Congress’ failure to pass the legislation before his 100th day in office, although Republicans control both chambers of Congress.
Trump also maintained that “pre-existing conditions are in the bill. I mandated it.” Coverage with people with existing medical conditions has to be included, he continued, because “Obamacare is dead.” That is an apparent reference to the struggles the ACA has had in states, including Oklahoma and Tennessee, which have had mass exoduses from the health exchanges. Others, however, charge that it is such talk and Congress’ actions that present the most risk to the health care law that even House Speaker Paul Ryan reminded recently is “the law of the land.” Larry Levitt, executive vice president of the Kaiser Family Foundation, tweeted that statements like Trump’s create the kind of uncertainty that leads insurers to exit the health exchanges.
To Dickerson’s suggestion that Trump’s supporters would be hurt by the AHCA, Trump noted, “It’s much different than it was a little while ago. This has evolved over a period of days.” States, he said, will have more control over risk pools.
Risk pools have traditionally not served patients well as they either cost individuals or the government too much money, says R. Adams Dudley, a physician and director of the Center for Healthcare Value at the University of California-San Francisco.
Beyond his comments to Dickerson, Trump tweeted Sunday that Democrats wanted to bail out insurance companies and large donors. A new Trump plan, he tweeted, would feature lower insurance premiums and deductibles as well as let customers with pre-existing medical conditions buy health insurance.
A version of the evolving Republican plan to replace the Affordable Care Act allowed for states to limit coverage for those with pre-existing conditions, a provision that cost the support of Republican moderates who already oppose attempts by Ryan and others to change the law. The first version of the Republican plan failed to receive a vote in the House, because it was obvious not enough Republicans were willing to vote for it.
Along with his tweets on health care Sunday, Trump tweeted about the many news reports focusing on coverage of his first 100 days in office Saturday and jokes at the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner that night.
Trump skipped the event, making him the first president since President Reagan to miss it. (Reagan, convalescing from an assassination attempt, sent Vice President George H.W. Bush.)