Donald Trump Hates You: How His Most Recent Executive Order Will Make You Sick
We all get a little full of ourselves sometimes (some of us more than others). We brag and talk so much shit, then we always seem to disappoint. One time, I was super confident on my way to bowling with some friends. I made myself seem like the greatest, smartest bowler to ever pick up a ten-pounder. Turns out I suck at bowling because I have no experience, but my friend Barry is super good because he has been practicing for years. I got jealous that I couldn’t be as good as him without putting in the work, so I thought of a genius idea to get people to forget about him: I poisoned all of our friends’ drinks and they got too sick to remember who Barry was. Oh yeah, then I blamed him and said it was all his fault.
Of course, that story isn’t true; I hate bowling. Unfortunately, this situation is eerily similar to Donald Trump and his crusade against Obamacare. Yeah, yeah… I’m sick of talking about it too, but he just won’t let it go. This Thursday, President Trump signed an Executive Order that changes Obamacare and some of its most beneficially aspects.
The Affordable Care Act was designed to protect consumers and make health insurance more accessible and affordable. The key regulations that it introduced were preventing insurers from denying people with pre-existing conditions and requiring plans to cover essential benefits. Trump took direct aim at these regulations by allowing smaller insurance plans that don’t meet these criteria (That means they can include whatever they want, even if you need it). The order also allows insurance companies to operate across state lines. Sounds cool for smaller businesses, right? Well, it actually makes it easier for the five largest insurance companies to overpower the small insurers in their home states. Only the largest insurers have the money and ability to effectively compete across state lines.
The worst part of the Executive Order was its sudden ending of payments for insurance subsidies. The most crucial part of the ACA is the subsidies for those that cannot afford insurance. These federal payments total $7 billion and benefit over 6 million Americans. By eliminating these payments, Trump puts the insurance and health of millions of citizens at stake. To make up for the loss of payments, insurance companies are expected to raise premiums for Americans that buy their own insurance. And of course, Trump doesn’t give a shit about people. That’s why in a morning tweet storm, he reveled in the fact that his sudden move sent health care stocks plunging. Screw you, people that invest money without insider information.
So why would he do this? Trump can’t actually hate you and your sick grandmother (well…). Trump is clearly trying to dismantle the Affordable Care Act from the inside. Since Republicans cannot agree on how to “repeal and replace,” he is taking things into his own tiny hands. With these additions, Congress can’t possibly wait to act on replacing the health care bill now. Trump has effectively turned Obamacare into a ticking time bomb. Millions of Americans will lose insurance, millions of others will experience price surges, and there will be only one person to blame.
Written By: CJ Wilcox (@CJWilcox7)
2: https://www.thebalance.com/how-could-trump-change-health-care-in-america-4111422
3: http://abcnews.go.com/Health/wireStory/pro-trump-states-affected-health-care-decision-50479492
4: https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/12/upshot/what-did-trumps-health-care-executive-order-do.html
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