It wasn’t the part of her closing message that drew the most headlines, but during her remarks at the Ellipse, Vice President Kamala Harris took time to talk about health care policy.
“If Donald Trump finally gets his way and repeals the Affordable Care Act, you will end up paying even more money. “It would take us back to the days when there were exemptions from health insurance and insurance companies had the power to deny health insurance to people with pre-existing conditions,” the Democratic candidate said. “Well, I’m not going back.”
These were not scare tactics. Rather, it was a final week wake-up call for voters concerned about health safety. This issue is on the ballot, whether it dominates the public conversation or not. NBC News reported:
House Speaker Mike Johnson harshly criticized Obamacare at an event in Pennsylvania on Monday, telling the audience there would be “massive” changes to U.S. health care if Donald Trump wins the election. “Health care reform is going to be a big part of the agenda. We said we’re going to have a very aggressive agenda in the first 100 days, but there’s still a lot of things on the table.” Johnson, of Louisiana, reportedly spoke while campaigning for Republican House candidate Ryan McKenzie in Bethlehem. To the video obtained by NBC News.
When an attendee asked, “Are you saying no to Obamacare?” the top Republican in Congress responded, “No to Obamacare.” Mr Johnson added that he wanted “major” reforms to the existing system.
The Speaker of the House is not the only Republican leader. For example, Donald Trump declared in a recent presidential debate that he has a “vision of a plan” to replace the nation’s existing health care system.
Around the same time, his running mate, Republican Sen. J.D. Vance of Ohio, revealed new details about plans to weaken protections for Americans with pre-existing conditions. The plan was announced shortly after the senator left ACA repeal on the agenda. The possibility of a second term for President Trump.
As regular readers know, President Trump has spent much of the last year repeatedly targeting the Affordable Care Act in increasingly explicit terms, most recently in December when Republican nominee John McCain He posted a video on his social media platform attacking the senator. Didn’t help him “end” the ACA in 2017.
Furthermore, Axios points out that last fall, Republican Sen. Mike Crapo of Idaho, who would likely become chairman of the Senate Finance Committee if Republicans took control of the chamber, also said he was open to a repeal-and-replace plan. A report was published.
What I have in mind is the broader debate of the election season and the degree to which health care has not received national attention, at least not on par with the economy or border security. But in the last days of the cycle, it is not too late to add this to the national debate.
A recent Gallup national poll found that two-thirds of Americans say there needs to be more discussion about health care as part of this year’s election. Surprisingly, the results were not entirely partisan. Majorities of Democrats, Republicans, and independent voters all agreed that health care doesn’t get enough attention.
With this in mind, the Speaker gave the political establishment a timely excuse to focus on the issues voters want to hear more about.
This post updates related previous coverage.
