To Get Through This Election, Get Some Fresh Air
Paying too much attention to politics can be hazardous to your health. And going into the 2024 presidential contest, it becomes clear that neither major party’s candidate has a solution to the country’s health care crisis. Perhaps one solution to both toxic levels of politicking and concerns about the encroaching cost of health care is to go out and get some fresh air.
It’s been over a decade since Congress passed the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, often called Obamacare—the latest major piece of health care legislation. The law was intended to expand insurance coverage and lower costs, but costs have actually exploded in the years since, despite $20 billion spent annually to subsidize 79 percent of policies. No wonder: The ubiquity of third-party payers like insurance—whether public or private—is the reason health care costs so much in the first place.
In response, Vice President Kamala Harris has pledged to spend even more money not only on Obamacare but other federal health programs as well. Certain health insurance tax credits implemented during President Joe Biden’s administration are set to expire next year, and Harris’ platform includes making them permanent. This month, she also floated the idea of expanding Medicare to include coverage for vision, hearing, and in-home care.
In contrast, former President Donald Trump seems completely resistant to details. Trump spent much of his presidency trying to kill Obamacare, saying as recently as January 2024 that if not for then-Sen. John McCain (R–Ariz.) voting against repeal in 2017, “we would have had it done.” But in April 2024, Trump claimed in a video posted to Truth Social that he was “not running to replace” Obamacare but rather to make it “much, much better, and far less money cost to the people.” At the September debate against Harris, Trump even claimed to have “saved” Obamacare.
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