Opinion: Trump breaks multiple promises in proposed health care plan

Health care has been a hotly-debated topic for years now between the two major political parties. Many people protested the Affordable Care Act (commonly known as Obamacare), and one of President Donald Trump’s major campaign points was his promise to repeal and replace the law. Trump has begun to act on this promise, but his proposed plan leaves a lot to be desired.  The Congressional Budget Office has issued a report on the proposed health care bill, predicting an increase of 14 million people uninsured by 2018 and $24 million by 2026. The report also states that with this increase of uninsured citizens, the federal budget would see a decrease of $337 billion by 2026. Trump promised during his campaign and his presidency that everyone would be insured under his health care plan. On 60 Minutes in 2015, Trump put it simply: “Everybody’s got to be covered,” a promise we expect to be broken with this proposed health care bill.Another promise Trump made that this plan breaks is lower costs and premiums for everyone. Trump told ABC in January, "We're gonna come up with a new plan that's going to be better healthcare for more people at a lesser cost.” Despite this, the CBO report states that premiums will go up, especially in lower-class areas. With less government aid to pay for insurance, many people will be left without coverage. Trump also swore Medicaid would not be cut in his plan, yet the CBO is reporting that 14 million people would no longer be covered under Medicaid by 2026.The irony here is the majority of people affected by the health care plan are those in the middle and lower class who voted for Trump, who now will experience higher premiums and less coverage.  As a result, many people who voted for Trump will now find themselves uninsured and are now voicing their regret on voting for him.The bill is highly opposed by doctors and hospital groups; they fear many patients will lose insurance because of the bill. Many Republicans have spoken out about the bill as well — Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Kentucky, referred to it as “stinking pile of garbage,” Michigan Rep. Justin Amash called the bill “Obamacare 2.0” in a tweet and Rep. Louie Gohmert of Texas told Fox News “Just one thing is not going to fix it.” Many more Republicans have made disfavoring comments with regard to the bill. Trump and his team, however, remain unwavering on their support of the bill. Speaker of the House Paul Ryan took everyone by surprise with his response to the CBO report:

“I think if you read this entire report, I’m pretty encouraged by it… And it actually exceeded my expectations.”

The rest of Trump’s team discredited the CBO before the report was even released. Press Secretary Sean Spicer said, “If you’re looking at the CBO for accuracy, you’re looking in the wrong place.” Trump himself has been tweeting his support of the bill and responding to negative comments by saying Obamacare is imploding and that Republicans will fix it.The future does not look bright for “Trumpcare,” especially after the backlash from the CBO report. Trump is blatantly ignoring the negative responses from those who voted for him, Republicans across the country, and people in the medical field. Trump made many promises about health care during his campaign, and with this proposed bill, we are seeing those promises being broken. This attempt to reform health care has instead let down the Americans who chose to believe in Trump’s promises.