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One of the more memorable parts of last week’s debate was Trump’s “I have
concepts of a plan” quip after being asked about his approach to
healthcare.

And the idea of a presidential candidate not having policy plans would be
laughable if this sinister strategy wasn’t behind it.

You see, they do have a plan on health care. The problem is just that when
they publicly declare those plans, they horrify voters.

I wrote an op-ed for the New York Times about Trump’s actual health care
plans and why we can’t let this evasion strategy slide. Please read it
below. [ [link removed] ]And if you’re able, please chip in
$25 or
anything you can to power our work to make the MAGA movement’s hypocrisy
loud and clear to voters and protect access to health care in our country.

Thanks for being a part of this,

Elizabeth

 

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Elizabeth Warren: What Donald Trump Isn’t Telling Us

During the presidential debate on Tuesday, Donald Trump was pressed on the
details of his plan to repeal Obamacare and replace it with something
“better.” The question should’ve been a softball. After all, Mr. Trump has
been promising the American people a plan for nine years, so he’s had time
to prepare. His answer? After ducking and weaving, he came up with: “I
have concepts of a plan.” Uh, that’s not a plan.

Plans translate values into action. They test the quality of the ideas and
the seriousness of the people advancing them. Plans reveal for whom
candidates will fight and how effective they are likely to be. And in a
presidential race, if either party’s nominee is asked about his or her
plans for something as fundamental as health care, voters should get a
straight answer.

The problem is not that Mr. Trump can’t think up a way to put his values
into action. The problem is that when he and other Republican leaders
produce plans with actual details, they horrify the American people.

Mr. Trump’s health care values have been on full display for years. In
2017, Republicans controlled Congress, and their first major legislative
undertaking was a bill to repeal the Affordable Care Act. Every time they
drafted something, independent experts would point out that their plan
would toss tens of millions of people off their health insurance, jack up
premium costs and slash benefits for those with ongoing health problems.

After months of wrangling, Mr. Trump and Republican lawmakers voted a bill
through the House to repeal the A.C.A. That night, Mr. Trump hosted a
party at the White House to celebrate their big step toward taking away
health care from millions of people.

A.C.A. repeal then moved to the Senate. Republicans had the majority, so
if they all stuck with Mr. Trump, the A.C.A. would die. As senators
gathered to vote, nearly all of the Democrats — including Kamala Harris,
then a senator from California — remained standing, too anxious even to
sit down. We murmured stories about who would be affected by this vote:
the uncle who had cancer and would lose coverage, the kid diagnosed with a
heart anomaly whose parents wouldn’t be able to find new insurance, the
college students who would just go without coverage and hope they didn’t
fall on ice or get in a car accident. We felt the weight of people’s lives
on the line.

As the votes rolled in, we could see that Mr. Trump was on track to win.
Our last hope was John McCain. When Mr. McCain put his thumb down, he
saved the Affordable Care Act. That one vote made the difference for
millions of Americans between losing and keeping their health care
coverage.

Over time, people have decided that they like the access to health care
that the A.C.A. gives them. Republican losses in 2018 and 2020 are often
attributed in part to Mr. Trump’s efforts to take away the A.C.A.
Republican members of Congress have since smartened up and stopped talking
about repeal.

Mr. Trump, however, was unbowed. He doubled down on getting rid of the
A.C.A., saying last year that it “sucks,” and that Republicans should
“never give up” on repealing it.

But at the debate, Mr. Trump displayed a new strategy. He seems to realize
that his health-care plans are deeply unpopular, so he simply doesn’t talk
about them. Thus, after nine years of railing against the A.C.A. and
trying mightily to repeal it, he has moved to “concepts of a plan,”
without a single detail that anyone can pin him down on.

The new strategy might have worked — except Mr. Trump’s right-wing buddies
have already laid out the plans. No need for concepts. Project 2025 has
920 pages translating Republican values into detailed action plans,
including on health care: Repeal the A.C.A. Cut Medicare benefits. End $35
insulin. Stop Medicare drug price negotiations. Cut health-care access for
poor families. Restrict contraceptive care. Jeopardize access to I.V.F.
Ban medication abortion.

As Project 2025’s favorability plummets, Mr. Trump is once again
scrambling. “I have nothing to do with Project 2025,” he claimed at the
debate. “I’m not going to read it.” But it was written by many members of
Mr. Trump’s former administration and over 250 of the policies in the plan
match his past or current policy proposals.

While Mr. Trump dances around “concepts of a plan” that will rip away
health care access for millions, Vice President Harris and Democrats in
Congress are committed to real improvements. We’ve already delivered
Medicare price negotiation on 10 widely used drugs, capped monthly insulin
costs at $35 for seniors and limited out-of-pocket spending for
prescription drugs under Medicare to $2,000 per year. In Ms. Harris’s
first big economic speech last month, she announced she’d build on these
wins, extending access to $35-per-month insulin to all Americans and
allowing Medicare to negotiate prices for even more drugs. She has also
called for ensuring abortion access nationwide.

A presidential campaign should be, in part, a debate of ideas, and it’s
not only reasonable but also commendable that people want to know what a
person would do in office. That’s why Ms. Harris has given major policy
addresses and released a slew of policy proposals, including a plan this
week focusing on rural America. Mr. Trump should be held to the same
expectation. The reason there isn’t more outcry over his debate answer is
that we all know his actual plan: Get elected, and then do whatever the
far right wants with the A.C.A. But saying that out loud wouldn’t go over
well at a debate.

As Ms. Harris has pointed out, Mr. Trump is not a serious man, and
“concepts of a plan” is a silly dodge. But, as she also noted, a Trump
presidency would have profoundly serious consequences — including
life-or-death outcomes for millions of people who could lose access to
health care. When voters mark their ballots, they may consider that a man
with Mr. Trump’s record cannot be trusted with our families’ health care.







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