Adding Up the Clinton and Trump Health-Reform Proposals
Increasing the fed deficit is worth it to have health citizens.
Sahil Kapur ?@sahilkapur Sep 23
New RAND study: Clinton's health plan extends coverage to 9.6M, costs $90b; Trump plan uninsures 19.7M, costs >$33B.
Adding Up the Clinton and Trump Health-Reform Proposals
Zachary Tracer
September 22, 2016 — 11:01 PM CDT
Study: 19.7 million lose coverage if Trump repeals Obamacare
Clinton’s plans increase health coverage, federal deficit
If Democrats keep the White House come November, millions of Americans could gain health-care coverage. If Republicans take it back, millions could become uninsured. A new study ran the numbers under the proposals of both U.S. presidential candidates.
Donald Trump’s pledge to repeal the Affordable Care Act, President Barack Obama’s signature health-care law, would result in 19.7 million more people without insurance and widen the federal deficit by $33.1 billion in 2018, according to an analysis conducted by research group Rand Corp. and funded by the Commonwealth Fund, a nonprofit foundation. The Republican nominee’s proposed tax credits would largely benefit higher-income people, the study also found.
By contrast, one of Hillary Clinton’s key health-reform plans could provide insurance to as many as 9.6 million individuals and lower expenses mainly for low- and moderate-income people. It would come at a greater cost to the budget, increasing the deficit by $90.4 billion.
The report offers a detailed look at the policies pushed by the two presidential nominees in a campaign where ugly rhetoric and controversy have often swamped policy discussions. The Affordable Care Act, known as Obamacare, remains a flash point six years after its passage, with Democrats determined to protect it and Republicans vowing to repeal it. The study, coming days before the first Clinton-Trump debate on Monday night at Hofstra University in New York, puts some numbers behind the heated political debate.........................
