Keep pre-existing condition coverage; not individual mandate
Q: Senator Rubio, you said that Mr. Trump thinks part of ObamaCare is pretty good. Which part?RUBIO:
The individual mandate. He said he likes the individual mandate portion
of it; I don't believe that should remain there. We need to repeal
ObamaCare
completely and replace it with a system that puts Americans in charge of
their health care money again.TRUMP: I agree with that 100%, except pre-existing conditions, I would absolutely get rid of ObamaCare. I want to keep pre- existing conditions. It's a modern age, and I think we have to have it.
Q: The insurance companies say is that the only way that they can cover people with pre-existing conditions is to have a mandate requiring everybody purchase health insurance. Are they wrong?
TRUMP: I think they're wrong 100%. Look, the insurance companies take care of the politicians [and vice-versa]. The insurance companies are making an absolute fortune. Yes, they will keep preexisting conditions, and that would be a great thing.
Removing cross-state barriers solves many insurance issues
TRUMP: We should have gotten rid of the lines around the state so
there's competition. The insurance companies are making a fortune on
every single thing they do. You're going to see preexisting conditions,
but the price will be down, and the insurance
companies can pay. Yes, they will keep preexisting conditions, and that
would be a great thing. Get rid of ObamaCare, we'll come up with new
plans. But, we should keep preexisting conditions.RUBIO: Here's what
you didn't hear in that answer.
What is your plan? I understand the lines around the state, whatever
that means. This is not a game where you draw maps. What is your plan,
Mr. Trump? TRUMP: You get rid of the lines, it brings in competition. So, instead of having one insurance company taking care of New York, or Texas, you'll have many. They'll compete, and it'll be a beautiful thing.
RUBIO: So, that's the only part of the plan? Just the lines?
Chief Justice Roberts: a disaster who gave us ObamaCare
Justice Roberts gave us ObamaCare. Might as well be called Roberts-care.
Two times of the Supreme Court, Justice Roberts approved something that
he should have never raised his hand to approve. And we ended up with
ObamaCare.
That judge has been a disaster in terms of everything we stand for
because there is no way -- no way that he should have approved
ObamaCare.
Taking care of poor sick people isn't single-payer
Q: If Obamacare is repealed & there's no mandate for everybody to
have insurance, why would insurance companies insure somebody who has a
pre-existing condition?TRUMP: Well, I like the mandate. I don't want people dying on the streets. The Republican
people, they don't want people dying on the streets, but sometimes they'll say "Donald Trump wants single payer."Q: Will people with pre-existing conditions be able to get insurance?
TRUMP: Yes. Now, the new plan is good. It's going to be inexpensive. It's going to be much better for the people at the bottom, people that don't have any money. We're going to take care of them through maybe concepts of Medicare. Now, some people would say, "that's not a very Republican thing to say." That's not single payer, by the way. That's called heart. We gotta take care of people that can't take care of themselves.
Insurance companies love a lack of competition
I have thousands of employees. If I'm negotiating for health insurance
for my people in New York or California of Texas, I usually have one
bidder in each state.
Competition brings down prices, and the way the law is now, it
discourages real competition between insurance companies for customers.
They have virtual monopolies within the states.
That makes no sense. It's very stupid and unfair for us. You know who
loves a lack of competition? Those insurance companies, who are making a
fortune because they control the politicians.
They've paid for them with their contributions, and it's a good
investment from their perspectives. For our country, not so much. They
give money to almost all the politicians.
Replace Obamacare with Health Savings Accounts
Q: On health care, Ben Carson's calling for health savings accounts. What do you think of that?TRUMP:
Well, I'm OK with the savings accounts. I think it's a good idea; it's a
very down-the-middle idea. It works. It's something that's proven.
The one thing we have to do is repeal and replace ObamaCare. It is a
disaster. People's premiums are going up 35 percent, 45 percent, 55
percent. Their deductibles are so high nobody's ever going to get to use
it.
So ObamaCare is turning out to be a bigger disaster than anybody
thought.Q: So if you agree with these health savings accounts idea, do you also agree with Ben Carson when he says Medicare probably won't be necessary?
TRUMP: Well, it's possible. You're going to have to look at that, but I'll tell you what, the health savings accounts, I've been talking about it also. I think it's a very good idea.
Stockpile treatments against future pandemics & bioterrorism
A few of Trump's proposals in his 2000 book "The America We Deserve" did
show he was both forward-looking and ideologically flexible.
Among them was a project to develop and stockpile treatments in
anticipation of future pandemics or the release of biological agents by
terrorists.
Ebola virus in America is Obama's fault
Trump could bypass the gatekeepers in the press to reach people directly
with his messages. Trump said he did own writing online, and given the
wide range of tones in his comments, this seemed true. A devoted
tweeter, his online statements address
everything from a doctor in New York with the Ebola virus--"Obama's
fault"--to the notion that the Big Apple could actually benefit from
global warming, if the phenomenon is real, because it suffers from
uncomfortable cold snaps in the winter.
I'm for vaccines, but in smaller quantities to avoid autism
Q [to Carson]: Donald Trump has publicly and repeatedly linked autism to childhood vaccines. Your opinion?CARSON:
There have been numerous studies, and they have not demonstrated that
there is any correlation between vaccinations and autism.Q [to Trump]: As president, you would be in charge of the Centers for Disease Control and the National Institutes of Health, both of which say you are wrong.
TRUMP: Autism has become an epidemic. It has gotten totally out of control. I am totally in favor of vaccines. But I want smaller doses over a longer period of time. You take this little baby, and you pump--I mean, it looks like it's meant for a horse, not for a child. Just the other day, a 2-year-old child went to have the vaccine, and got a fever; now is autistic. I'm in favor of vaccines, do them over a longer period of time, same amount. And I think you're going to see a big impact on autism.
CARSON: We are probably giving way too many in too short a period of time.
The insurance companies have total control over politicians
Q: ObamaCare is one of the things you call a disaster.TRUMP: A complete disaster, yes.Q: Saying it needs to be repealed & replaced.
TRUMP: Correct.
Q: Now, 15 years ago, you called yourself a liberal on health care. You were for a single-payer system, a Canadian-style system. Why were you for that then and why aren't you for it now?
TRUMP: As far as single payer, it works in Canada. It could have worked in a different age. What I'd like to see is a private system without the artificial lines around every state. I have a big company with thousands of employees. And if I'm negotiating in BY or NJ or CA, I have like one bidder. Nobody can bid. You know why? Because the insurance companies are making a fortune because they have control of the politicians. They're making a fortune. Get rid of the artificial lines and you will have yourself great plans. And then we have to take care of the people that can't take care of themselves. And I will do that through a different system.
We didn't have a free market before ObamaCare
Q: in 2000, you wrote that you're a liberal on health care, and you
supported a Canadian-style system, where the government acts as an
insurer. Is that what you still believe? A: You know, I looked at
that. I looked at it very seriously. Some people
don't agree with me on this: I want everyone to have coverage. I love
the free market, but we never had a free market. Even before ObamaCare,
it wasn't really free market.
As an example, in New York, when I wanted to bid out my health
insurance, we had boundaries. I could only go in New York. If I wanted
to bid it out to a company from California or New Jersey, anywhere--you
get no bids. Q: But the single payer, you're not interested anymore?
A: No. No, these are different times. And over the years, you are going to change your attitudes. You're going to learn things and you're going to change. And I have evolved on that issue. I have evolved on numerous issues.
ObamaCare is a catastrophe that must be repealed & replaced
What does Donald Trump believe? ObamaCare: Repeal it. Replace it.Speaking
at the Iowa Freedom Summit in January, Trump said ObamaCare is a
catastrophe that must be repealed and replaced. In 2011, Trump suggested
that the health insurance industry
have more ability to cross state lines. In "The America We Deserve"
Trump wrote that he supported universal healthcare and a system that
would mirror Canada's government-run healthcare service.
Don't cut Medicare; grow the economy to keep benefits
What does Donald Trump believe? Entitlements: Do not cut Social Security
or Medicare benefits. Grow the economy to save those programs.The
real estate tycoon told CPAC in 2013 that Republicans should not cut
Social Security or Medicare because most
Americans want to keep the benefits as they stand now. His solution is
unclear, but he has indicated that general economic growth would play a
role. Trump tweeted in May that he knows "where to get the money from"
and "nobody else does."
ObamaCare deductibles are so high that it's useless
We have a disaster called the big lie: ObamaCare. Yesterday, it came out
that costs are going for people up 29, 39, 49, and even 55%, and
deductibles are through the roof. You have to be hit by a tractor,
literally, to use it, because the deductibles are
so high, it's virtually useless. It is a disaster.And remember the $5
billion Web site? $5 billion we spent on a Web site, and to this day it
doesn't work. I have so many Web sites, I have them all over the place.
I hire people, they do a Web site.
And it's going to get worse, because remember, ObamaCare really kicks in, in 2016. It is going to be amazingly destructive. Doctors are quitting. I have a friend who's a doctor, and he said to me, "Donald, I never saw anything like it. I have more accountants than I have nurses."
We have to repeal ObamaCare, and it can be replaced with something much better for everybody. Let it be for everybody. But much better and much less expensive for people and for the government. And we can do it.
Make health insurance premiums tax-deductible
Our elected representatives in the House & Senate must allow
individuals to fully deduct health insurance premium payments from their
tax returns under the current tax system. Businesses are allowed to
take these deductions so why wouldn't Congress allow
individuals the same exemptions? As we allow the free market to provide
insurance coverage opportunities to companies and individuals, we must
also make sure that no one slips through the cracks simply because they
cannot afford insurance.
We must review basic options for Medicaid and work with states to ensure
that those who want healthcare coverage can have it.There are other
reforms that might be considered if they serve to lower costs, remove
uncertainty & provide financial security
for all Americans. And we must also take actions in other policy areas
to lower healthcare costs and burdens. Enforcing immigration laws,
eliminating fraud and waste and energizing our economy will relieve the
economic pressures felt by every American.
Save Medicare & Medicaid without cutting them to the bone
He pledged to save Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid "without
cutting it to the bone" by "making the country rich again." He vowed to
repeal Obama's Affordable Care Act and replace it with something better,
although he didn't provide any details.
Trump made no effort to woo mainstream GOP elected officials. He
remarked, "I am a Republican, and I am disappointed with our Republican
politicians because they let our president get away with absolute
murder."
Kill ObamaCare before it becomes a trillion-ton weight
Obamacare can't be reformed, salvaged, or fixed. It's that bad.
Obamacare has to be killed now before it grows into an even bigger mess,
as it inevitably will. Obamacare takes full effect in 2014. If it's not
repealed before then, it will be more than
just another failed government entitlement program--it will be the
trillion-ton weight that finally takes down our economy forever.
Obamacare is a heat-seeking missile that will destroy jobs & small
businesses; it will explode health-care costs; and it will lead to
health care that is far less innovative than it is today. Every argument
that you'd make against socialism you can make
against socialized health care, and any candidate who isn't 100%
committed to scrapping Obamacare is not someone America should elect
president. Repealing Obamacare may be one of the most important and
consequential actions our next president takes.
Increase insurance competition across state lines
Even if we elect a real president who will get tough and repeal
Obamacare, we still need a plan to bring down health-care costs and make
health-care insurance more affordable for everyone.
It starts with increasing competition between insurance companies.
Competition makes everything better and more affordable.
One way to infuse more competition into the market is to let citizens purchase health-care plans across state lines.This could be easily accomplished if Congress got some guts and did the right thing. The U.S. Constitution gives Congress control over interstate commerce. But for whatever reason, the Congress has never exercised this power regarding health insurance. They need to.
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