A week before moving into the Oval Office, Donald Trump promised that “We’re going to have insurance for everyone.”
The legislation passed by the House, which Mr. Trump himself admitted was “mean,” would have taken away health insurance from 23 million people.
The pending Senate bill to enact Trumpcare would deprive 22 million Americans of health insurance.
In Trump World, I guess this counts as an improvement.
But, it certainly doesn’t deliver on Mr. Trump’s promise.
Fortunately, Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell was unable to round up the votes to pass this misbegotten legislation before the Senate adjourned for its July 4 recess, a recess he probably felt the Republican senators had earned after working so hard in an effort to inflict so much damage on the American people.
In a last ditch attempt to enact Trumpcare before the recess, Mr. McConnell was reported to have raised the loathsome prospect of having to sit down and negotiate with Sen. Chuck Schumer, the Democratic leader, in order to reach a deal.
Of course, that’s what the Democrats had done back in 2010 when public hearings were held and compromises were made to come up with the Affordable Care Act.
Yes, contrary to a reader’s mistaken memory, hearings were held and changes were made to arrive at the ACA.
Although, after all the compromises, not a single Republican voted for the ACA.
But, Mr. McConnell was not one to allow any sunshine to fall on the drafting of the Senate’s version of Trumpcare. Instead, in some subterranean Senate room, 13 men cobbled the bill together.
Senate Democrats, most Republicans and all women were denied admission.
It seems that Mr. McConnell’s greatest fear is having to sit down and negotiate with Democrats, something for which the Senate was once known and admired.
But surely with Donald Trump, the man who wrote the book on negotiating, in his corner Mr. McConnell could meet the challenge of reaching an agreement on legislation to ensure the health care needs of our nation’s citizens.
Unless Mr. Trump really didn’t write the book. Or Republicans really aren’t interested in fixing the Affordable Care Act, but only in ensuring a huge tax cut for the wealthy.
At the end of the day, these overriding questions remain:
Why are twice as many American babies more likely to die in their first year of life than Italian, Portuguese and Czech babies?
Why are American women four times as likely to die in pregnancy and childbirth as Polish women?
Why is the United States ranked 42nd in longevity in the CIA’s World Factbook and why have we had a smaller increase in life expectancy over 25 years than other industrialized countries?
And why are we spending so much more on health care per capita than other countries while getting such poor results?
Studies show that being insured significantly reduces death rates for young and middle-aged people.
And when Americans make it to 65 and are covered by Medicare, their life expectancy is roughly the same as for Europeans who have had universal health care all their life.
So, do you think that when the Senate reconvenes it might come up with a bipartisan plan to address these and similar questions and finally provide universal health care to all Americans?
Remember, that your health and that of your children and grandchildren depends on the answer to this question.
Jay N. Feldman
Port Washington
