Trump Vs Clinton: Where Do The Presidential Candidates Stand On Healthcare?

Hillary Clinton referred to the Affordable Care Act, or "Obamacare", as "one of the greatest accomplishments of President Obama, of the Democratic Party and of our country". It is hardly a surprise that she is not in favor of repealing it. She has, however, announced plans to expand and improve the Affordable Care Act.

She said, on September 21 2015:

"As your president, I want to build on the progress we’ve made. I’ll do more to bring down health care costs for families, ease burdens on small businesses, and make sure consumers have the choices they deserve. And frankly, it is finally time for us to deal with the skyrocketing out-of-pocket health costs, and particularly runaway prescription drug prices."

Concretely, Clinton has said to plan an expansion of Medicare, covering America's poorest and neediest citizens, to the 19 states that are currently still rejecting it. She also believes that those people over the age of 55 should have the choice of buying into the Medicaid program.

The rest of Clinton's policy statements also, at first sight at least, sound like they'd bring relief to you if you are a low-income person, as she has made it clear that she supports:

• "American families are being squeezed by rising out-of-pocket health care costs," Clinton says, and as such she supports a reduction in copays and deductibles.
• "Lower drug costs for hardworking families and seniors," in other words a reduction in the cost of prescription medications for many people. In part, she says, this could be achieved by increasing competition among pharmaceutical companies by widening the choice of generic drug options and by penalizing drug companies for "unjustified price increases".
• The expansion of healthcare services to rural areas.

Clinton is also in favor of making healthcare access available to illegal immigrants by giving them to option to "buy health insurance on the health exchanges regardless of their immigration status". Both are opinions that will continue to draw opposition from among Republicans.

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Clinton does not go as far as her former opponent Bernie Sanders, who called for a single-payer national health system similar to those seen in Europe and Canada, however, and it is currently unclear whether she would be able to change the minds of the 49 percent of US adults who now view Obamacare in a negative light. Clinton's healthcare plan would increase the number of insured people by an estimated 9.6 million (Source: Rand Corp) while also adding $90.4 billion to the national deficit — something that is bound to make her policies controversial.

Trump's Vision For Healthcare

What about Donald Trump's vision for healthcare? Trump is staunchly opposed to Obamacare, noting that "premiums have skyrocketed", "deductibles are going up", and "people are going without needed medical care because they can’t afford these amounts". As such, he has made it clear that he plans to repeal the Affordable Care Act. 

What is Trump planning to replace a system that many citizens are ultimately unhappy about with? While he has noted that he plans to work with "Congress to create a patient-centered health care system that promotes choice, quality, and affordability", Trump's vision for healthcare is essentially one of marketizing it:

• His website states that Obamacare should be "replaced" with Health Savings Accounts, which already exist. They are essentially tax-favorable savings accounts that can exclusively be used to pay for healthcare expenses. In order to qualify for a HSA, you must currently be enrolled in a High-Deductible Health Plan. These policies are there for people with serious injuries or illnesses, and before paying into one, people must have met their annual deductible.
• "Creating a dynamic market" by making it possible tor people to purchase insurance policies across state lines, within any of the 50 states.

He has also criticized Clinton for offering "insurance to illegal aliens". As far as reproductive rights for women are concerned, Trump has changed his stance a multitude of times, ranging from taking a pro-choice stance in the past to more recently saying that "there has to be some form of punishment". For the woman?

In either case, Trump's latest stated views on abortion are restrictive. Trump does, on the other hand, support the accessibility of birth control without a prescription.

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The Rand Corp has estimated that an additional 20.3 people would be uninsured as the result of Trumps admittedly bare-bones healthcare plan. It would also cost an estimated $270 billion over the course of a decade. While Trump has a stated policy of working "to establish high-risk pools to ensure access to coverage for individuals who have not maintained continuous coverage", it is also not clear how he will accomplish this.

Hillary Care Vs Trump Care: The Bottom Line

SteadyHealth is able to offer less in the way of a substantial idea of what your healthcare might look like should Trump be elected president, because his officially published plans have less to offer in the way of a substantial idea of what your healthcare might look like. Clinton's healthcare policies are, on the other hand, well developed. All we can do right now is compare what the two candidates have to say, side by side, and make our own conclusions. The rest remains to be seen.