Trump Falsely Claims Tax Bill ‘Repeals (Over Time) Obamacare’

United States President Donald J. Trump makes remarks about tax reform during a bicameral meeting at the White House in Washington, DC on December 13, 2017. Seated at right is US Senator Orrin Hatch (Republican of Ut... United States President Donald J. Trump makes remarks about tax reform during a bicameral meeting at the White House in Washington, DC on December 13, 2017. Seated at right is US Senator Orrin Hatch (Republican of Utah), Chairman of the US Senate Committee on Finance. - NO'WIRE'SERVICE'- Photo by: Chris Kleponis/picture-alliance/dpa/AP Images MORE LESS
Start your day with TPM.
Sign up for the Morning Memo newsletter

The morning after Christmas, President Donald Trump resumed his victory lap on the GOP tax plan, boasting correctly that he had repealed “the very unfair and unpopular individual mandate,” but incorrectly adding that doing so “essentially repeals (over time) ObamaCare.”

Health care experts and stakeholders agree the repealing the mandate that most Americans buy health insurance or pay a penalty will strike a blow to Obamacare’s individual market, raising insurance premiums at least 10 percent and making 13 million more people uninsured over 10 years.

But the rest of the Affordable Care Act—including generous subsidies for low-income families and laws banning discrimination based on gender and health status—remains firmly in place, and those carrots may be enough to draw millions of people into signing up for insurance even without the stick of the mandate.

In fact, just last week, with the status of the mandate up in the air, the first Obamacare open enrollment period under the Trump administration saw a surprisingly robust surge in signups. Nearly 9 million people enrolled in the federal health care marketplace, almost meeting last year’s total, and several state-run marketplaces are seeing record enrollment.

Still, it is unknown whether enough people in future years will log on to check out their options and discover they qualify for subsidies or Medicaid without the nudge of the mandate. The Congressional Budget Office predicts a large drop-off—calculating that the government will save hundreds of billions of dollars because millions fewer people will enroll in those heavily subsidized or free plans.

Latest DC

Notable Replies

  1. “…Democrats & Republicans will eventually come together and develop a great new HealthCare plan!”

    More than a few Democrats wouldn't piss in Trump's mouth if his teeth were on fire.
  2. For crying out loud, can someone give him the correct talking point?

    “It will raise premiums for all, Bigly”

  3. If it was up to Trump the new infrastructure bill would see the construction of regional Soylent Green factories.

  4. “…Democrats & Republicans will eventually come together and develop a great new HealthCare plan!”

    When one side believes the federal government has no business caring about health care and the other does, it’s hard to see how this would happen.

  5. Can someone on the Oval Trailer staff please start “super-sizing” Donnie’s 12 daily Diet Cokes?

    For the sake of the country?

Continue the discussion at forums.talkingpointsmemo.com

9 more replies

Participants

Avatar for system1 Avatar for epicurus Avatar for bojimbo26 Avatar for steviedee111 Avatar for bluinmaine Avatar for ottnott Avatar for darrtown Avatar for tena Avatar for texastwostep Avatar for professorpoopypants Avatar for caltg Avatar for maximus Avatar for qwerty23 Avatar for aiddon

Continue Discussion
Masthead Masthead
Founder & Editor-in-Chief:
Executive Editor:
Managing Editor:
Deputy Editor:
Editor at Large:
General Counsel:
Publisher:
Head of Product:
Director of Technology:
Associate Publisher:
Front End Developer:
Senior Designer: