Former President Donald Trump’s “concepts of a plan” for an alternative to the Affordable Care Act are concerning, said Michigan doctors representing the Committee to Protect Health Care.
The doctors said the landmark 2010 legislation has changed American healthcare for the better, and Trump’s history suggests he would undo that if he's elected to a second term in November.
Speaking at a Tuesday news conference in advance of an evening town hall-style event held by the Trump campaign in Flint, Dr. Rob Davidson, the executive director of the committee, said the Affordable Care Act — also known as Obamacare — has made healthcare more accessible to Michiganders by cutting costs.
“Obamacare is a lifeline for so many Michiganders, and definitely for my patients in rural Michigan,” Davidson said. “We need to know how our next president will handle it.”
Trump has long criticized the act. As president, he tried unsuccessfully to repeal and replace it. In his campaign for the presidency this year, he's said Obamacare "sucks." He called it “lousy” at Tuesday’s debate and said he wants to replace it with something better, but he hasn’t provided details on how he plans to change it, saying he has "concepts of a plan."
His track record isn’t encouraging, said Dr. Aisha Harris, who owns a family practice clinic in Flint.
“We're concerned that Donald Trump will put [in] obstacles that will make our patients sicker,” she said. She cited Trump’s first term, when he and Congressional Republicans challenged the ACA several times, without much success.
And recent comments by vice presidential candidate Senator J.D. Vance (R-Ohio) have Harris and Davidson worried that a second Trump administration would try to turn back the clock on healthcare access.
“We just don't want to go back,” Davidson said. “We are not going to go back.”
