Trump Has to Rescue Obamacare or Admit He’s a Liar
(COMMON DREAMS) Bernie Sanders, January 10, 2017 — It didn’t take long. During the first week of 2017, the new Republican Congress has begun efforts to dismantle America’s health-care system. Their long-standing goal, consistent with their right-wing ideology, is to take away health insurance from tens of millions of Americans, privatize Medicare, make massive cuts to Medicaid and defund Planned Parenthood. At the same time, in the midst of grotesque and growing income and wealth inequality, they’re preparing to allow  and to hand out obscene tax breaks for the top one-tenth of 1 percent.
 “As we enter the new year, our message to Republicans is simple and straightforward: We will not allow you to punish the elderly, disabled veterans, children, the sick and the poor while you reward your billionaire friends. Instead, we will fight back.”
Let me be absolutely clear: The impact of repealing large pieces of the Affordable Care Act, which Republicans are planning to put on Donald Trump’s desk on his first day in the White House, would be devastating. If Republicans get their way, 30 million Americans, 82 percent of whom are from working families, will lose their health insurance. With Medicare privatized, seniors will see their premiums increase by as much as 50 percent while their benefits are cut and funding for nursing-home care dries up. Underfunded hospitals around the country, particularly in rural areas, could be forced to close their doors, leaving millions of Americans with nowhere to turn for critical medical care. Patient protections, like preventing insurance companies from denying coverage because of a preexisting condition, removing the cap on maximum health-care benefits, allowing children to stay on their parents’ health insurance plans until age 26 and preventing discrimination by insurers, would be eliminated.
Meanwhile, the pharmaceutical industry’s greed will be rewarded as prescription drug costs for older Americans will likely , and the wealthiest 2 percent can look forward to a $346 billion tax break.