After a Decade, Donald Trump’s Health Care Plan Still in “Concept” Phase

But he’s clear that Democrats were always the ones to blame for the problem.

A composite photo illustration of Donald Trump standing in front of a blank white board.

Mother Jones illustration; Win McNamee/Getty

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Former President Donald Trump has “concepts of a plan” to replace the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare. At least that’s what he claimed during his debate against Vice President Kamala Harris in Philadelphia tonight. Having access to affordable health care remains a key issue for Americans, according to Pew Research Center.

Moderator Linsey Davis of ABC News asked Trump if he had plans to get rid of the Affordable Care Act, something he vowed and failed to do during his presidency. Recently, Trump walked back this claim, saying he would keep the Affordable Care Act, unless he was able to find a good replacement. Trump, in his response, was very vague, concerning an issue as serious as health care—except he knew Democrats were to blame for any problems.

“Obamacare was lousy. It’s not very good today. And what I said that if we come up with something…we’re going to do it and we’re going to replace it. But remember this, I inherited Obamacare because Democrats wouldn’t change it. They wouldn’t vote for it. They were unanimous. They wouldn’t vote to change it. If they would have done that, we would have had a much better plan than Obama’s.”

Davis followed up, asking if he had a plan in mind to replace it. Trump seemed unable to remember that during his time as president, he had the opportunity to create a new health care program, but was unable to do so. Today, he still can’t seem to provide a coherent answer, saying,

“I have concepts of a plan. I’m not President right now, but if we come up with something, I would only change it if we come up with something that’s better and less expensive. And there are concepts and options we have to do that, and you’ll be hearing about it in the not too distant future.”

DONALD TRUMP & DEMOCRACY

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DONALD TRUMP & DEMOCRACY

Mother Jones was founded to do journalism differently. We stand for justice and democracy. We reject false equivalence. We go after stories others don’t. We’re a nonprofit newsroom, because the kind of truth-telling investigations we do doesn’t happen under corporate ownership.

And we need your support like never before, to fight back against the existential threats American democracy faces. Fundraising for nonprofit media is always a challenge, and we need all hands on deck right now. We have no cushion; we leave it all on the field.

It’s reader support that enables Mother Jones to report the facts that are too difficult, expensive, or inconvenient for other news outlets to uncover. Please help with a donation today if you can—even a few bucks will make a real difference. A monthly gift would be incredible.

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