After celebrating the destruction of the middle class with the passage of the #taxscam, Trump was his usual braggadocious and obnoxious self. During his praise of the GOP passing sweeping tax reform, Trump claimed it included the repeal of Obamacare. That’s a blatant lie and yet another instance of our fake president manipulating facts for his own benefit.
“‘When the individual mandate is being repealed, that means Obamacare is being repealed,’ he crowed at a Cabinet meeting on Wednesday. ‘We have essentially repealed Obamacare.'”
What Republicans successfully repealed was the Obamacare mandate that stipulates every American purchase health insurance or face a penalty. That is but a tiny portion of former President Barack Obama’s signature health care plan. Although it wasn’t that important at the time of Obamacare’s passage, it became slightly more significant. But experts agree that it’s hardly an outright repeal.
“‘The death of Obamacare has been exaggerated,’ says Larry Levitt, who oversees health reform studies at the Kaiser Family Foundation. ‘Eliminating the mandate creates uncertainty, but all the benefits for people remain in place.'”
For the majority of Americans who get health insurance through Medicaid or their employer, this will have absolutely no effect. Sure, gutting the mandate could certainly create issues for the six percent of Americans who purchase insurance on the open market, but most of them will still be eligible for the generous subsidies that Obamacare allows.
The fact remains that Obamacare and its removal remains a thorny issue for Republicans. Their multiple attempts at getting rid of it resulted in abject failure, and any future attempt will remain even more difficult. Trump’s delusional thinking that Democrats will come begging for him to change Obamacare is even more unlikely, especially now that democrat Doug Jones will become Alabama’s next Senator. But that certainly won’t stop our dear leader from making outrageous claims.
Featured image via Youtube.
