Trump Goes Off-His-Rocker on Instantaneous Health Care Replacement.
Update: January 11th Trump News Conference. Trump stated that he would submit a replacement plan or guidelines for Obamacare the day after his cabinet member got sworn in or approved. Strangely, he didn’t name which Department or Cabinet member that he was talking about. He restated that he expected approval by the Congress in two or three weeks. He also said that he would not sign laws on Inauguration Day, Friday, January 20th. This is because there will be quite a great show with great entertainers for the inauguration (plus the parade, and the balls.) Next week, there will be action announcements on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday. With all of the other stories about doubtful opposition research, and undeserved attacks on CNN, and asking them to fire a reporter, the super schedule was bypassed. This also caused the news to have to ignore most of the Senate screening hearings of the cabinet appointees. Trump manipulation of the news?
Today, not-yet-President Donald Trump has called for a repeal of Obamacare by next week, with a simultaneous replacement, or shortly thereafter, in two to three weeks.
It seems to me that the ACA individual enrollments are contracts for a year at a time, so it will not disappear immediately. Trump’s positions and guidance for a congressional replacement are vague rally items at best. They include coverage with previous conditions, coverage of dependents to age 26, and keeping all those presently covered, but by a better plan. Is that all the guidance that we expect our President to give Congress on forming a plan covering 30 million people with the most important subject in their lives? 10% of our GDP is spent on health care. Does Trump expect no input on this from his White House or Cabinet? None of his Cabinet members have yet been approved, and they don’t take office for 10 days either.
It is still 10 days for Trump and his Cabinet to take office. Where is the time for his new Department of Health and Human Services to study new health care proposals? What are the plans of the next Secretary of HHS, Tom Price? Where is the time for input on a plan, which is not yet proposed by the Congress, by the health care industry, by doctors and nurses associations, by budget analysts inside and outside of government, by affected state governments, by our Representatives and Senators, and by the covered 30 million patients themselves?
There are multi-year plans with the 31 states that have adopted Medicaid plans that go with the ACA. Are these longer term legal commitments?
My previous post, “Will Trumpomania Ever Cease?” questioned the need to cancel regulations on Day One, or even to make new legislation in the first 100 days. Now we have a one week – three week combination, truly an insanity calling for a “Trumpomania” description. The Congress was discussing a cancel now and replace after the next Presidential election. Now they are asking for a two-to-three-year replacement, after the next Congressional election. Where does 2-3 weeks fit in their plans?
Of course, all of this sturm-und-drang can be avoided by the replacement of one President-elect as apparently mentally unfit to occupy the office. This replacement super-haste would be the evidence for that. Are any congresspersons considering this?
