Trumpcare Never Became A Law
After narrowly advancing through the House of Representatives in 2017, Trumpcare went on to die on the Senate floor.
Trump hinted at plans to introduce a new plan in early 2019, but Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell reportedly warned Trump that the Senate would not revisit major health care legislation again until after the 2020 presidential election.1
That meant Trump would have to win a second term to try and make good on his campaign promise to repeal and replace Obamacare.
Trump Created A Program To Privatize Medicare Without Patients’ Consent Biden Is Keeping It Going
WASHINGTON The Biden administration is quietly continuing a little-known Trump-era pilot program that clears the way for doctors and private health insurers to switch patients from Medicare to privately run insurance. Though there has been little public discussion of the program, it has the potential to expand to the wholesale privatization of Medicare.
Progressive lawmakers and doctor and patient groups are now scrutinizing the program, after a year of it flying under the radar.
I think theres a lot of interest in stopping this, Rep. Jan Schakowsky said. To privatize Medicare without the knowledge of people who chose Medicare is scandalous. We cant let that happen.
Despite calls to shut down the pilot project, the Biden administration has no plans to do so. The current plan is to run the program through the end of Bidens term, potentially allowing a future president to expand its scope and further erode Medicare, the pillar of public healthcare in America.
The pilot program, known as direct contracting, allows for doctors to transfer their patients off of core Medicare to a private model, where a third party is paid a fee to manage their benefits. The government says it will preserve patient benefits while experimenting with new ways to produce value and high quality health care. Opponents say it is a backdoor method of privatizing Medicare against the desire or consent of patients.
So far, that isnt happening.
Trump Hits Biden Over Trade Manufacturing
Job losses resulting from NAFTA tend to be overstated but one major study found that more than 850,000 jobs were displaced by the pact.
Robert E. Scott of the pro-labor Economic Policy Institute found that about 851,700 U.S. jobs were displaced by the U.S. trade deficit with Mexico from 1993 to 2014.
When it comes to normalizing trade relations with China a status President George W. Bush formally granted in 2001 after China entered the World Trade Organization U.S. job losses have been larger, according to studies.
The nonpartisan Congressional Research Service wrote in 2018, citing a 2014 study by the Economic Policy Institute, that growth in the U.S. goods trade deficit with China between 2001 and 2013 eliminated or displaced 3.2 million U.S. jobs .
If you add the 851,700 figure with the 3.2 million figure, you would see a figure that approximates 4 million, which is roughly 25 percent of the estimated 17 million manufacturing jobs that existed in 1994.
Experts have pointed out, however, that technology and automation has likely had at least as much of an effect on these losses in manufacturing jobs, with many noting that the losses would have occurred even without NAFTA.
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Watch Ivanka Trumps Full Speech At 2020 Rnc
Ivanka Trumps remarks about the private sector are a reference to the president’s invoking of the Defense Production Act a 1950 law allowing the president to force U.S. businesses to produce materials in the national defense, such as ventilators and medical supplies for health care workers.
But Trump dragged his feet in actually putting the act into effect.
As NBC News noted in a fact check of remarks Tuesday night by Ivanka Trumps brother, Donald Trump Jr., the president had said on March 18 that he was going to invoke the DPA. But he waited more than a week to actually invoke it, finally using it on March 27 to force GM to make ventilators.
During that key stretch, hospitals and doctors implored the administration to use the DPA to increase the capacity to produce needed equipment. In a March 21 letter to Trump, the American Hospital Association, the American Medical Association and the American Nurses Association all urged Trump to “immediately use the DPA to increase the domestic production of medical supplies and equipment that hospitals, health systems, physicians, nurses and all front line providers so desperately need.” The first case of COVID-19 in the U.S. was found on Jan. 20, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Trump Overlooks Record Deportations Of Obama
President Trump ridiculed Joe Biden for spending his entire career opening borders. But the Obama-Biden administration is often criticized by its own allies for record deportations of immigrants.
During their administration, immigration from Mexico was virtually zero as more Mexicans and their children left the U.S. than migrated to the country.
There were spikes in migrations of unaccompanied children and families under President Obama and Biden, but apprehensions of people at the border a measure of migration levels used by the government rose in fiscal 2019 to its highest annual level in 12 years, according to the Pew Research Center.
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What Is Medicare Advantage Also Known As Medicare Part C
Medicare Advantage is a type of health insurance provided by private insurance companies to U.S. adults ages 65 and up, as well as younger individuals with certain disabilities and health conditions. The federal government pays a flat fee per enrollee to the insurance companies, which then provide the core benefits of Original Medicare, payment to care providers and oftentimes additional benefits.
Rnc Airs Video Clip From Barcelona Calls It ‘bidens America’
Ali Gostanian and Caitlin Fichtel
The Republican National Convention aired a video on Monday decrying U.S. protests and citing potential chaos in the streets if Joe Biden is elected president.
The video, which has since been posted on President Trumps official YouTube account, is titled Catalina and Madeline and features two Chicago-area sisters, Catalina and Madeline Lauf, who discuss their conservative beliefs and their support for the president.
This is a taste of Bidens America, one of the sisters narrates as photos and videos of protests flash on screen. The rioting, the crime. Freedom is at stake now and this is going to be the most important election of our lifetime.
While the imagery appears to allude to the recent American protests after the fatal encounter of George Floyd with the Minneapolis police in May, one part of the video is from an entirely different protest, a different country and a different year.
NBC News was able to identify that a portion of the video was in fact taken during Catalonia independence protests in October 2019 and not during recent protests in the United States over racial injustice and police brutality. Catalonian public broadcaster, CCA, was first to report on the misinformation on August 25.
The Trump campaign and the RNC did not immediately respond to NBC News’ requests for comment.
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Wife Of Retired Police Captain Killed In George Floyd Protests Who Gave Emotional Plea Is Exploiting His Death Daughters Say
Dartunorro Clark
The daughters of David Dorn, a retired police captain who was shot and killed outside a burglarized St. Louis pawn shop during protests stemming from George Floydâs death, told The St. Louis American that his widow is exploiting his death to bolster President Trumps agenda.
We know his wife is a Trump supporter, but he was not, Debra White, his daughter, told the paper, referring to his widow, St. Louis Police Sgt. Ann Dorn. He frequently said they were not able to talk about politics, because they were at the opposite ends of the spectrum. I know he would not want his legacy to be for his death to be used to further Trumps law-and-order agenda.
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When Does Trumpcare Take Effect
The ACHA first had to pass a vote in the House of Representatives, which it did so on May 4 by a margin of 217-213.1 The bill will still need to pass a vote in the Senate before it can be signed into law by President Trump.
Despite passing the House, the bill has stalled at the Senate level, as many GOP senators have balked at approving the ACHA as it was originally written. A committee of senators has been formed to draft a new version of the bill. There is no deadline for this new version, and no date has been set for a vote.
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Trump Usually Includes New Material In Major Speeches Not Tonight
President Trump spoke for roughly 70 minutes on Thursday, one of the longest convention speeches in modern history.
But the speech contained almost nothing that Trump hasnt already said, falling back on lines one would expect to hear in any standard fair Trump stump speech or even a coronavirus briefing: the economy is doing great, Democrats are radicals, America is winning.
The speech didnt have one theme it was built around but rather contained an extensive and often repetitive review of Trumps actions in office and wide-ranging criticisms of Joe Biden. Trump’s address was roughly triple the length of Bidens convention speech.
The president is known to insert new material into his speeches on the trail. It just wasnt the case in one of the biggest speeches of his presidency.
Who The Order Affects
Trumps executive order aims to help further expand Medicare Advantage plans, which are private insurance plans now used by about a third of the nations 61 million Medicare enrollees.
Most seniors and disabled persons on Medicare are enrolled in basic Medicare, which is managed by the federal government. Some Democrats proposals would expand this type of Medicare and either reduce or exclude the role of private health insurers in favor of a government-run program.
Basic Medicare consists of coverage for hospital and nursing home costs and expenses for doctors, outpatient services, and durable medical equipment .
The government pays only 80 percent of covered Part B expenses, leading many Medicare enrollees to also buy private Medigap insurance plans to plug this and other coverage gaps in basic Medicare. People with basic Medicare also buy separate Part D drug plans, which are also run by private insurers.
Medicare Advantage plans, by contrast, can bundle all Medicare coverage into a single package. The plans usually cost less than add-ons to basic Medicare. The plans cover people only for services provided by doctors, hospitals and other care providers in a plans provider network, and usually limit coverage to an enrollees home market. People with basic Medicare, by contrast, are covered for care anywhere in the U.S. from participating Medicare providers.
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Trumps Plan To Privatize Medicare
Last week, President Donald Trump signed an executive order titled Protecting and Improving Medicare for Our Nations Seniors. The order is the latest example of how Trump says one thing while doing another. Rather than strengthening Medicare, Trump envisions turning large swaths of the 54-year-old program for the elderly over to the private sector while directing the federal government to dismantle safeguards on seniors health care access, shift costs onto beneficiaries, and limit seniors choice of providers.
Among other things, the executive order lays out a path to:
- Shift the Medicare program toward private plans
- Expand private contracting between beneficiaries and providers, putting seniors at risk for higher costs and surprise medical bills
- Further restrict seniors choice of providers in Medicare Advantage
- Expand Medicare Medical Savings Accounts as a tax shelter for the wealthy
Trump Pledges To Get Better Deals From Drug Companies
Even after paying into the Medicare system throughout their lives through taxes and Social Security payments, some treatments and drugs still require users to pay for them. During his first term Trump lifted the so-called gag orders that were preventing pharmacists advising patients of cheaper alternatives, and capped insulin costs for some users. Publically, Trump has insisted that he does not intend to make cuts to Medicare provision but his March budget announcement revealed plans for a $1.5 trillion spending cut over the next decade.
Trump said he wouldnt cut Medicaid, Social Security, and Medicare. His 2020 budget cuts all 3.
Jon Favreau
Going forward, the President has said that he will send $200 payment cards to 33 million individuals to help with the cost of drugs, although no concrete plans have yet been outlined. Trump would also like to see consumers able to import prescriptions from overseas, thus expanding the market and hopefully bringing down prices across the board.
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Fact Check: Giuliani Mischaracterizes Legislative Efforts For Police Reform
Rudy Giuliani claimed in his RNC speech Thursday that, following George Floyds death, it seemed, for a few brief shining moments, Democrat and Republican leaders would come together with a unified proposal to reduce police misconduct.
He added that it didnt move forward because this possibility was very dangerous to the left.
There is no evidence that Democrats and Republicans ever came anywhere close to reaching any kind of bipartisan deal on police reform after Floyd, a Black man, died under the knee of a white police officer. And the pressure to not move forward on a bill came from the White House, not the progressive wing of the party.
On the contrary, the House, in which the Democratic Party holds the majority, passed a sweeping police reform bill in late June largely along party lines to address systemic racism and police brutality.
The legislation would ban all neck restraints, including chokeholds and the kind used on Floyd by a then-Minneapolis police officer, as well as no-knock warrants in drug cases, as was used in the fatal shooting of Breonna Taylor in Louisville, Kentucky, in March.
Trump threatened to veto the measure if it passed the Republican-controlled Senate.
Senate Republicans had supported their own, narrower, bill, which wouldn’t ban chokeholds but would withhold federal funding from police departments that don’t stop using the potentially deadly technique.
Trump Accepts Nomination For President
President Trump on Thursday accepted the Republican nomination for president.
“My fellow Americans, tonight, with a heart full of gratitude and boundless optimism, I profoundly accept this nomination for president of the United States,” he said, deviating from prepared remarks that said “proudly accept.”
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Things To Watch For On Night 4 Of The Rnc
Shannon Pettypiece
President Trump has had nearly four years in office to sell his performance to the American people. So far, polls suggest he has yet to make the sale: A majority of Americans disapprove of the job he’s done, and he has consistently trailed Joe Biden in general election surveys this year.
So what can he say on the final night of the Republican National Convention to change those attitudes and convince Americans he deserves four more years in office? Republican strategists say they are looking for him to give a vision of what he would do in a second term an area he has struggled to define and how that would contrast with a Biden presidency.
Whatever message Trump delivers on the final night of the gathering, he will be competing for attention with a Category 4 hurricane that made landfall Thursday morning.
How Many People Have Medicare Advantage Plans
More than 28 million older adults were enrolled in Medicare Advantage coverage in 2022, representing 45% of all Medicare beneficiariesMedicare Advantage 2022 Spotlight: First Look. Kaiser Family Foundation. Accessed 8/29/2022. . And when shopping, they had more plan options than ever before. The average enrollee had access to about 39 different Medicare Advantage plans in 2022, based on factors like their location and level of desired coverage, according to KFFMedicare Advantage 2022 Spotlight: First Look. Kaiser Family Foundation. Accessed 8/29/2022. .
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How Many Presidents Have Cut Medicare Benefits
The Medicare program has survived eight presidents between Lyndon B. Johnson and Donald J. Trump, including Nixon, Ford, Carter, Reagan, Bush, Clinton, Bush, and Obama.
Since its inception, Medicare has expanded to cover people with disabilities and end-stage renal disease requiring dialysis or kidney transplant, as well as people 65 or older. People under 65 with serious illnesses may require expensive medical care. So Medicare funding had to expand to cover these people.
In 2003, the Medicare Prescription Drug Improvement and Modernization Act under President George W. Bush made the biggest changes to the program since it was founded. This act introduced Medicare Advantage plans and the optional prescription drug Medicare benefit, Medicare Part D.
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Trump Promises A ‘safe And Effective’ Coronavirus Vaccine ‘this Year’
The president boasts of lifesaving therapies, but critics argue there isn’t enough evidence to back up this claim. One treatment, Remdesivir, has been shown to reduce deaths in severely ill patients with COVID-19. The U.S. recently approved the use of convalescent plasma for COVID-19, but without results from randomized clinical trials the gold standard of medical research theres no clear proof the plasma treatment saved lives. Studies have shown that the treatment is safe and other research suggests it holds promise for treating patients, though.
There is also no evidence that an effective vaccine will be delivered by the end of the year. There are four vaccines currently in clinical trials in the U.S, with the one from Moderna furthest along. But its impossible to know if these vaccines will prove effective.
Vaccines dont always work, one expert told NBC News earlier this year.
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