In the midst of a pandemic that has claimed over 210,000 American lives, resulted in lost jobs, shuttered businesses, foreclosed homes, evictions, and hungry children, it’s an undeniable fact that the wealth of our nation depends upon the health of our people. Unfortunately, the President of the United States does not understand that his most basic duty is not only to abide by the laws of our land, but to protect the lives of the American people.

Trump and Congressional Republicans have failed us. With the lives and health of the American people at stake, the GOP continues in its relentless efforts to repeal the Affordable Care Act, the health care law that provided 24 million Americans health care insurance. The law has been so maligned that most Americans do not realize that the ACA affects ALL of us whether we have insurance through the ACA marketplace or not.  This law provided for Medicaid for the working poor so that providers would be paid for their services and hospitals could stay afloat.  (Tennessee is 1 of only 12 states that turned down the offer.) It also provided protection for pre-existing conditions, made coverage for certain services mandatory, and closed the Medicare donut hole.   When the GOP could not “repeal and replace” the law after numerous attempts, the President began chipping away at it through executive order.  He removed the individual mandate and slashed the advertising budget by 90%. When these measures did not seem to have any effect on the law’s popularity, Trump cut out the cost-sharing subsidies, but the insurance companies found ways to work around this and still provide lower cost premiums for most people.  Finally, last year, he cut navigator funding by 90%. In the agency where I worked, that move left only one paid staff member. Fortunately, those of us who lost our jobs stayed on as volunteers and continued assisting with enrollments. 

Now as we are battling COVID-19, at a time when we need healthcare the most, Trump continues his attacks on healthcare law.  Twelve  of Tennessee’s rural counties have coronavirus positivity rates between 15-30% and 7 of those 12 counties do not have a hospital or even an ER, but Trump appeals to the Supreme Court to deal the final death blow to healthcare access for all Americans. The case is scheduled to be heard on November 12.  If Trump and the GOP get their way, there will be even darker days ahead.  

Meryl Rice,

TNDP Executive Committeewoman, District 26