Trump is right about Obamacare but offers only worse: Analyst

US President Donald Trump is right that Obamacare is imploding but what Republicans have offered is even worse, according to Myles Hoenig, an American political analyst and activist. 

Hoenig, a former Green Party candidate for Congress, made the remarks in an interview with Press TV on Friday while commenting on a statement by Trump who said he would "let Obamacare implode" after Congress failed to pass healthcare reform legislation and repeal the Affordable Care Act (ACA), known as Obamacare.

"I said from the beginning, 'Let Obamacare implode'...I turned out to be right," Trump said Friday at a gathering for law enforcement officers in Long Island, New York. "Let Obamacare implode."

Experts say the GOP plan to replace Obamacare would leave 22 million more Americans uninsured over 10 years.

Trump made the remarks less than a day after the Republican-controlled Senate failed to pass legislation to repeal Obamacare, another humiliating defeat for Trump.

Hoenig said, “Everyone who supports the Affordable Care Act, or Obamacare, look at the 2 most ‘progressive’ aspects: younger people are covered as well as people with pre-existing conditions. If one supports the idea that the health insurance industry should have ultimate control over one’s health care, then these two aspects seem appealing. Yet President Trump is expecting it to implode on its own and all the more reason to repeal it now and replace it with something ‘better’.”

“What’s imploding? Insurance agencies are pulling out, Medicade is being overloaded and burdening the states, there is no controls on premiums that are going up, pharmaceutical prices are running rampant, the packages offered are extremely expensive and even the minimum is of incredibly poor coverage with high deductibles, and people will be financially punished for not buying into one of these plans. Additionally, although more Americans are now receiving insurance coverage, tens of millions still lack any,” he stated.

“President Trump has the right idea of repealing the ACA but like many of his policies in his administration, there is no follow up. Democrats want to improve the ACA but will not do the one thing that would guarantee real universal, cheaper health care and that is Medicare for All, or Single Payer,” he added.

Both Dems and GOP see health care as a commodity, not a right

“Under Obamacare or any package the Republicans come up with will not do anything to reduce the cost, limit the profits on health care, or expand coverage. Tens of millions more will actually lose coverage under a Trump plan, according the Congressional Budget Office. The US government establishment, regardless of party, sees health care as a commodity, not a right. When Congress had a vote on whether to support Single Payer, not a single senator, including Sanders, called their bluff to vote yea, as it is supported by a majority of Americans,” the analyst said.

“Many people today support ACA and for many, it is a lifesaver. But even with it, one’s financial stability will always be in jeopardy as most Americans do not have the kind of Cadillac coverage that US members of Congress have and any serious illness can financially wipe out the most stable of families,” he stated.

“Trump is right that it is imploding but offers only worse. If the Democrats, always the weaker party, were to work in coalition with ‘moderate’ Republicans to fix or adjust the ACA, there is no doubt that the fundamentals won’t change,” Hoenig concluded. 

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