In a move that calls back to the last presidential debate, the Harris-Walz campaign has gone into attack mode against the Trump-Vance ticket on the topic of healthcare.
When Trump was asked that night about his alternative to Barack Obama’s Affordable Care Act, Trump responded, in part, that he had “concepts of a plan,” making for one of the most viral moments of the debate. Ahead of this week’s Vice Presidential debate on Tuesday, Oct. 1, the Democratic ticket has released a report that they claim picks apart the Trump-Vance campaign’s “concept” — and the harm that it would have.
On Monday, Sept. 30, the Harris-Walz campaign released “The Trump Vance ‘Concept’ On Health Care:’ A Plan To Rip Away Coverage from People With Pre-Existing Conditions and Raise Costs for Millions.” The 43-page document on Harris’ campaign website picks apart the Republican ticket’s quotes about healthcare, and cites various critiques that have been made against their strategy.
In the presidential debate, Trump said that while the Affordable Care Act — colloquially known as “Obamacare” — was “lousy,” that he wouldn’t move to repeal it until his administration could “come up with a plan that’s going to cost … less money and be better health care.” Moments later, when asked for clarification, he gave the aforementioned quote about “concepts of a plan.” But in an interview with NBC’s Meet The Press weeks later, Republican Vice Presidential Candidate JD Vance gave a more detailed explanation, stating that Trump wants to implement “some deregulatory agenda” that separates Americans into different risk pools. He stated that insurance companies should be able to separate Americans into different risk pools to “promote some more choice in our healthcare system and not have a one-size-fits-all approach.”
The Harris-Walz campaign’s new report sharply criticizes the approach. They say the Trump-Vance plan has four concepts: “rip insurance away from millions, including those with pre-existing conditions;” “raise the costs of prescription drugs and health insurance;” “cut Medicare and slash Medicaid;” and “ban abortion nationwide and rip away reproductive health.” They also continue to link Trump-Vance to Project 2025, the controversial initiative published by a conservative think tank called Heritage Foundation; Trump has denied any connection to the platform.
The report cites a statement by Center on Budget and Policy Priorities that repealing the ACA would increase the number of uninsured Black households without coverage by 85%, and the number of Hispanic Americans without coverage by 40%. And according to Harris-Walz, Trump has already made a negative impact with the overturning of Roe v. Wade, a Supreme Court ruling determined by judges appointed by Trump. The report cites statistics from National Partnership that “nearly seven million Black women and six million Latinas” live under what Harris has labeled as “Trump Abortion Bans.”
“Following the announcement of the HBCU homecoming tour, the Harris-Walz campaign is continuing to underscore the stakes of this election for Black America. If elected, Donald Trump’s Project 2025 agenda would be a complete disaster for our community that could worsen Black health outcomes across the board,” said Harris-Walz 2024 National Black Engagement Director Christale Spain, in a statement provided to The Root. “Vice President Harris is working to turn the page on Trump and chart a new way forward that includes capping the cost of insulin at $35 for all Americans, increasing the health insurance rate for Black Americans, and protecting a women’s right to make her own healthcare decisions in an effort to combat the current Black maternal healthcare crisis.”
