'Trumpcare' failure or trick?

(Baonghean) - The new health care law (also known as Trumpcare) was "stillborn" when the US Congress canceled the vote on this bill because it knew it would not be able to receive enough votes to pass. On the surface, this is a "bitter failure" for President Trump, but is it really like that?

"Hit the dog with the dog's back"

“Overthrowing” Obamacare is the great desire of the Republican Party that controls both houses of the US Congress, but after many hearings under the Barack Obama administration, this Act still stands.

Therefore, during last year's presidential campaign, Donald Trump caused a stir with his declaration that "repealing and replacing Obamacare" would be his first task if he were elected. Trump's spirit hit the Republican Party's psychology.

US President Donald Trump withdrew the Trumpcare bill before it was voted on in Congress. Photo: AFP

To prove that “talk is action”, Mr. Trump turned over the Obamacare file immediately after being elected and his first legislative effort was to declare to erase the medical legacy of his predecessor and establish a new one. This certainly pleased Republicans and those who “bitterly hate” Obamacare.

But Mr. Trump's efforts were not appreciated when the newly announced Health Care Bill revealed many weaknesses.

First, it is not much different from Obama's law. Second, it is not considered to be "superior" to Obamacare as Mr. Trump advertised.

It may make the rich feel comfortable, but it makes the poor feel confused because they no longer have the opportunity to use free or cheap medical services. In short, Trumpcare has not been able to solve the problem of harmonizing interests between parties.

And in the end, Trumpcare failed to “defeat” Obamacare because President Trump failed to convince enough members of Congress to pass the bill. According to polls, the rate of support for this bill among the people is only... 17%.

“We have to let Obamacare run its course for a short period of time,” Mr. Trump told reporters in the Oval Office on the seventh anniversary of Obamacare, and that was tantamount to a declaration of defeat.

Blame Technique

While the American media, which is not very sympathetic to Mr. Trump, called it a “disgraceful failure” or a painful lesson, many people thought that Trump had just pulled off a clever trick. Because if you look closely, Trumpcare failed, but it was not Mr. Trump’s fault.

He claimed to have withdrawn the bill because “Democrats” would not vote. In fact, more than 30 Republican lawmakers refused to support the new bill. Clearly, the White House boss blamed Congress for the failure of Trumpcare this time.

If he had deliberately brought the bill to the House for a vote and it had not received half the votes it needed, that would have been his real failure. Now he takes little responsibility for it, claiming that if Democrats had been “civilized and united,” the two sides could have produced “a great health care bill.”

By doing so, Republicans and Obamacare opponents will have no reason to “blame” Mr. Trump. In fact, after Trumpcare collapsed, these people turned to criticize each other for failure.

While journalists say Mr. Trump lacks campaign skills, Trump loyalists blame Mr. Paul Ryan - Speaker of the Republican-majority House of Representatives - for "playing a prank" on the President with a bad plan.

Furthermore, Mr. Trump has not faced criticism and anger from the large number of people who benefit from Obamacare. After all, he kept his campaign promise to replace Obamacare, but the congressmen did not pass it. That must be a clever trick.

Obamacare approval rating at highest in 7 years. Photo: Mark Wilson/Getty

“Obamacare” still wins?

Regardless, the final result is a victory for Obamacare. So far, no analyst has said that Obamacare has made the US health care system worse. Although there are still many imperfections, thanks to Obamacare, the government spends less on the health care system while 20 million more people have insurance, and health care inflation is at its lowest level in 50 years.

Before Trumpcare was formed, the determination of Republican members to replace Obamacare with Trumpcare was very high - this will had been incubated for the past 7 years. However, when seeing the content of Trumpcare, many members had to admit that it was not as good as Obamacare.

Observers say that adjusting a health insurance system is an extremely difficult task because it will be very difficult to bring about a good policy that harmonizes the interests of all parties. Therefore, even if the Trump administration wants to pursue a new law, it will certainly not be easy, especially after this failure.

Recent polls show that Obamacare support is at a seven-year high, with 54% in favor and 43% opposed. According to experts, the recent Republican push to repeal and replace Obamacare may have made many people believe that this is the best deal yet.

It is not clear how long Obamacare will continue to run, but it is clear that as long as President Trump’s administration cannot come up with a truly superior policy, Obama’s healthcare legacy will still have a way to “survive”. And of course, Mr. Trump will not be able to use “tricks” to blame for his failures in renewing his policies like this time.

Thanh Huyen