Donald Trump is sabotaging Obamacare from every direction.
In late August, Iowa applied to the Department of Health and Human Services for a sweeping waiver to opt out of Obamacare’s structure and implement its own health coverage model. What Iowa was proposing, as my colleague Jordan Weissmann wrote over the summer, was a significant conservative rewrite of how it would allot its Obamacare dollars. In a number of ways, the Iowa plan mimicked the House-passed American Health Care Act. Other states having problems with their individual markets have been watching closely to see whether the Trump administration will approve something so broad.
The application for Iowa’s waiver is still pending. But, as the Washington Postreported Thursday night, one key figure in the administration has personally intervened to try to kill it: Donald Trump.
AdvertisementTrump, the Postreports, read a Wall Street Journal story about Iowa’s application in late August and got all het up about it. He first tried to call (now ex-) HHS Secretary Tom Price, who couldn’t be reached, but then got in touch with Seema Verma, the head of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. “Trump’s message in late August was clear,” the Postwrites, “according to individuals who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss private conversations: Tell Iowa no.”
There are a couple of possible explanations for why Trump did this. One would be that he objected to Iowa’s proposal on policy grounds. We’d rate this possibility as unlikely, since Trump does not know or care about the specifics of health policy in any way, shape, or form. That he had to read in the newspaper about the major health policy decision his government was facing tells you enough. Observing Donald Trump for five seconds tells you enough, too.
AdvertisementIt is far more likely that Trump did this because, if the waiver does go through, it might make Iowa Republicans more content with life under Obamacare, with those revisions. This revelation shows in the most personal terms possible that Trump is willing to squeeze Obamacare from whichever direction he can until he gets his legislative “win” that kills it.
His administration has already been working to sabotage the upcoming open enrollment period by shortening it, cutting funding for outreach and advertising, and, most farcically, scheduling maintenance to the HHS website on weekend hours during the period. Trump maintained his public will-he-or-won’t-he posture on paying out cost-sharing reductions past the September deadline for insurers to finalize their 2018 rates, and told bipartisan negotiators in the Senate that he wasn’t interested in signing short-term stabilization legislation before that deadline, either.
AdvertisementNow we know, too, that he doesn’t want to allow a more conservative state to pursue changes that could lessen its zeal for repealing the Affordable Care Act.
This waiver may still go through, as a lot of people at HHS seem to want it to. (How else do you suppose this story saw the light of day?) But that will require bypassing a president who does not want anyone else finding satisfaction with the statutory status quo. Until Trump gets his win, he will try to make life under Obamacare as uncomfortable for as many people as possible. If Obamacare is working for you, he will try to sabotage that success. If Obamacare isn’t working for you, he will try to ensure that it continues not working. Whatever it takes to keep the repeal coalition together. It is a game to him, and he is incapable of understanding that it shouldn’t be.
Tweet Share Share Comment(责任编辑:关于我们)
-
By a technicality, August's full moon is blue. Here's why.
There's supposedly nothing special about a blue moon. A full moon is just a moon phase, and a blue m ...[详细] -
John Cleese's Twitter tribute to Andrew Sachs will make you cry
John Cleese is leading tributes to Andrew Sachs, his beloved co-star in Fawlty Towers who died on Th ...[详细] -
Milan on brink of historic title
MILAN:Europe's most dramatic title race will finally reach its climax on Sunday when AC Milan ta ...[详细] -
Man City title miracle all part of Pep's plan
AFP:Pep Guardiola joked it had been part of his plan for Manchester City to come from 2-0 down to be ...[详细] -
South Korean lawmakers brace for US election as Harris, Trump diverge on North Korea
Democratic presidential nominee and US Vice President Kamala Harris waves from the stage on Day 4 of ...[详细] -
Korean teens fight for rights to birth control, sex life
In 2012, when Kang Min-jin was 17 years old, she decided to go public about her sex life. Back then, ...[详细] -
Jabeur, Thiem crash at French Open
PARIS:Arab trailblazer Ons Jabeur crashed out of the French Open at the first hurdle on Sunday as Sp ...[详细] -
Samsung Galaxy S9 leaks in fancy new lilac purple color
Could purple be the new "in" color for smartphones?Samsung appears to think so. Prominent leaker of ...[详细] -
海丰芥蓝入选全国名特优新农产品名录_南方+_南方plus日前,农业农村部农产品质量安全中心公布了2024年度全国名特优新农产品名录,“海丰芥蓝”成功入选,海丰名物再添一员!“南海物丰”,海丰县属南亚热 ...[详细]
-
Professor accused of assaulting colleague
A 50-year-old professor was booked on Thursday for assaulting a coworker. (123RF)The Cheongju Heungd ...[详细]
- Military prosecutors indict intel official over leaking 'black agent' info
- Letter to Kim Jong
- Zverev says Nadal plays '30% better' at Roland Garros
- Kylie Jenner celebrates 21st birthday by flipping the bird to her Instagram followers
- 21 Unexpected Wonders in Colorado’s Vibrant Cities and Small Towns
- Pyongyang, Beijing agree on deepening relations
- [HERALD INTERVIEW] 'Industries of the future require endeavors across disciplines'