Murphy falsely accuses Trump of trying to ‘sabatoge’ Obamacare

By Matt Rooney
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Obamacare open enrollment begins Friday November 1st amid stories of continuously dropping enrollment, Save Jerseyans, so the usual chorus of Leftist politicians and “influencers” took to social media this week to boost the failing health care law.

Former President Barack Obama and New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy were among Twitter’s ACA boosters.

What did they have to say?

Murphy’s comment is nonsensical. 

“The scary truth: @realDonaldTrump is actively working to sabotage the ACA. In NJ, we’re committed to protecting access to quality health care and reducing costs. Open Enrollment begins tomorrow,” Murphy tweeted on Thursday. “Find the right plan for you at getcovered.nj.gov. #GetCoveredNJ #Halloween.”

It’s no secret that the President and his party are opposed the Obama-era health care law. Not news to anyone! They’ve unsuccessfully worked to overturn it. Faced with an early first-term policy defeat, the Trump Administration turned to the courts and its own rule-making authority to eat away at the worst aspects of the ACA. So it’d be fair to say the President is OPPOSED to the law and would like to see it overturned/replaced. That’s a matter of public record.

The inaccurate part: Trump’s actions aren’t “sabatoge.” Obamacare is a poor excuse for a law which was sabotaged FROM ITS INCEPTION by its creators, not its opponents. It was flawed by design with the intent of eventually driving Americans to accept single-payer.

Remember: the entire ACA house of cards relies on government subsidies. The only way for the poor to afford these plans is if the cost of enrollment is artificially lowered; similarly, the high-risk participant pools don’t work if they’re only populated by unhealthy, high-risk consumers. Lo and behold, wealthier participants are dropping out.

Brian Blase, a former special assistant to President Trump at the National Economic Council, recently explained what’s really happening in a must-read Fox News op-ed:

“The number of uninsured Americans in households with income above 400 percent of the poverty line increased by 1.1 million from 2017 to 2018, and the number of uninsured in households with income above 300 percent of the poverty line — about $75,000 for a family of four — increased by 1.6 million. (Most other income groups saw small year-over-year changes in the number of uninsured.) These are people in the middle class, often without an offer of employer coverage, who are playing by the rules and simply can’t afford Obamacare plans since they don’t qualify for a subsidy — people the Trump administration’s health-care reforms are designed to help.”

The end result is a program that is increasingly unaffordable and not much of an option. Blase argues in his piece that some of the President’s actions are reforms which attempt to expand options, not limit access. 

Disagree? Fine. But there’s no grand conspiracy.

No “sabatoge” on the part of ACA detractors.

This is a crappy system which was set up for failure.

There’s another less dark/sinister/controversial reason for dropping ACA participation: there’s record workforce participation under President Trump. The job market is solid. Gainfully employed Americans are less likely to need government programs.  Not that Governor Murphy would ever want to admit that.

Matt Rooney
About Matt Rooney 8390 Articles
MATT ROONEY is SaveJersey.com's founder and editor-in-chief, a practicing New Jersey attorney, and the host of 'The Matt Rooney Show' on 1210 WPHT every Sunday evening from 7-10PM EST.