Back to the Future: Trump’s History of Promising a Health Plan That Never Comes
Ever since he was a presidential candidate, President Donald Trump has been promising the American people a “terrific,” “phenomenal” and “fantastic” new health care plan to replace the Affordable Care Act.
But, in the 3½ years since he set up shop in the Oval Office, he has yet to deliver.
In his early days on the campaign trail, circa 2015, he said on
CNN he would repeal Obamacare and replace it with “something terrific,” and on
Sean Hannity’s radio show he said the replacement would be “something great.”
Fast-forward to 2020. Trump has promised an Obamacare replacement plan five times so far this year. And the plan is always said to be just a few weeks away.
July 19:
Trump told Chris Wallace in a
Fox News interview that a health care plan would be unveiled within two weeks: “We’re signing a health care plan within two weeks, a full and complete health care plan that the Supreme Court decision on DACA gave me the right to do.”
July 31:
With no sign of a plan yet, reporters asked Trump about it at a Florida event. Trump
responded that a “very inclusive” health care plan was coming and “I’ll be signing it sometime very soon.”
Aug. 3:
Pushing the timeline once again, Trump said during a
press briefing that the health care plan would be introduced “hopefully, prior to the end of the month.”
Aug. 7:
Citing his two-week timeline once again, Trump said during a
press briefing that he would pursue a major executive order in the next two weeks “requiring health insurance companies to cover all preexisting conditions for all customers.” Trump also said that covering preexisting conditions had “never been done before,” despite the ACA provisions outlining protections for people who have preexisting conditions being among the law’s most popular components.
Back to the Future: Trump’s History of Promising a Health Plan That Never Comes
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