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Sooner or later, all US presidents will have problems with health care. Now it is increasingly certain that the current president, Donald Trump, will be no exception. One of his main electoral promises was the abolition of the Affordable Care Act, better known as its predecessor, Barack Obama, better known as Obamacare. This, after more or less interruptions, was largely accomplished by Trump, which would undoubtedly have increased his credibility, thus standing out from his predecessors, as keeping election promises is not very common among American politicians either. The winning streak involved the coronavirus epidemic, which put the president’s previous successes in this sector entirely on its head.
Obamacare
It is common for the health care reforms promised by candidates to be an integral part of the US presidential election campaigns It was no different in the Obama campaign, which promised health care accessible to all Americans. While this has not materialized in this way, Obamacare has been one of the biggest changes in US healthcare history since the introduction of senior health insurance, Medicare. Many welcomed it, but many were disappointed because it involved increased taxes and, in many cases, even a fine rather than actual insurance. In addition, a significant increase in public debt was linked, at least in part, by many analysts to the launch of Obamacare, which also did not translate into any improvement in health indicators.
The real emergency
Not surprisingly, Trump, who targeted right-wing conservative voters, had an excellent electoral strategy to promise to pull out of Obamacare, which, in practice, he succeeded. So far, perhaps it could even be a success story for the current president and healthcare, but the Covid-19 epidemic has arrived, which has put US healthcare to the test. Over varying degrees of time, hospitals were full and operated on the brink of collapse for a long time. In the difficult times of the epidemic, many state governors, notably Andrew Cuomo of New York, sought the president’s help, urging the purchase of more ventilators and protective equipment (which is at the least the responsibility of the president or the federal government. in the U.S). Trump proved willing despite Cuomo being a Democratic and therefore essentially oppositional governor, and furthermore, the president even commanded an army hospital ship to New York, although ultimately this was not necessary. However, Governor Cuomo was never satisfied with anything and repeatedly attacked the president when he thought he was trying too hard to get involved in the situation in New York.
Experts and limitations
Trump is in favor of involving excellent experts in the fight against the epidemic, including the well-known and acclaimed Anthony Fauci, a world-renowned expert in the fight against HIV and AIDS. In addition, under the Trump administration, Jerome Adams, very understanding and of more color, became the Surgeon General (equivalent to the National Medical Director) in 2017, so the president, described as racist by many, also witnessed excellent tactical sense with this choice and also ensured that Dr. Adams should make regular statements about the epidemic (for example, folding a mask on television), stating that the president is also consulting with Afro-descendant experts about an epidemic that it affects African Americans particularly badly. Furthermore, the president banned aviation with China at the start of the epidemic, which was still criticized by many at the time, but which later proved clearly to be the right decision. Trump also restricted the entry of EU citizens early, not caring about the disapproval of the EU.
Hooray optimism
Therefore, objectively speaking, he recognized the dangers of the epidemic from the beginning and acted against them, yet many criticize him and accuse him of downplaying the situation. It also plays a role in the fact that until recently he appeared without a mask, it is true that the emphasis on the use of a mask in the United States was not taken by the majority, so the epidemic treatment of Trump is not judged by the voters Americans. On the other hand, it pains many that the president has often opted for an overly optimistic communication, in which he has repeatedly declared about scientific advances and the impending sinking of the epidemic, looking back too early. It is not uncommon in the American world, and on some level, a president was even expected to take a positive approach to issues and cheer up his people. Consider, for example, President Roosevelt’s famous Day of Infamy speech after the destruction of Pearl Harbor, or President Bush’s television speech on September 11. It is perhaps no exaggeration to compare the two situations, as far more Americans have died from coronavirus than in the two disasters mentioned above.
Early joy
The scientific discoveries perhaps announced too early by Trump (first on the effects of hydroxychloroquine and now on the administration of convalescent plasma) are not, in fact, unfounded, since both were mentioned only when they were also examined by the FDA (Authority of Medicines and Food). It was more unlucky for the president that someone misunderstood this and drank an aquarium cleaner to prevent illness. However, for now at least, it appears that his actions and statements on health and the epidemic will eventually lead to the end of his presidential career, as he had a high chance of being re-elected before the outbreak broke out. Interestingly, many well-known staunch Democrats of the author of this article also confidentially said that although they did not like the president, he would still vote for him because the economy and the stock market were so well developed under the Trump presidency that they were willing to forgive him and re-elect him. . Trump, of course, communicated the rise in the economy and the stock market solely to his own earnings, even if the reality was obviously more nuanced than that. Of course, this has changed since March. The economy has declined, unemployment has risen, and many would now sew it around Trump’s neck, again, perhaps just exaggerating reality a bit.
I was fried upside down
Trump introduced strong restrictive measures at the start of the epidemic (actually, rather only by the proposed US federal and state governments), which, of course, many protested at first, but later proved necessary and essentially no different. of European measures. When the epidemic first subsided, virtually every state demanded a restart of the economy, to which President Trump agreed, but worked with his experts to develop a very cautious three-step opening program based on a strict set criteria. However, this was practically nowhere observed and the consequences are known. Added to this are protests against police brutality, so the epidemic flares up again, most blame Trump, and now the realization of his previous electoral promise, the withdrawal of Obamacare, is upside down because the epidemic has expanded its scope (unemployed, people living below the poverty line). ), who did better with Obamacare than without it.
The author, Zoltán Vajó, a physician, has been practicing in the United States since the 1990s.
(Cover Image: Sarah Silbiger / Getty Images)
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