Health Care

Schumer rips Trump ‘Medicare for all’ op-ed as ‘smears and sabotage’

Senate Democratic Leader Charles Schumer (N.Y.) said President Trump’s USA Today op-ed ripping “Medicare for all” was full of misinformation meant to deliberately mislead the public.

“The American people deserve better than smears and sabotage,” Schumer said in a statement. “All of the false and misleading words in the world can’t cover up the truth: President Trump and Republicans in Congress are forcing millions of Americans to pay more for health insurance and trying to rip away protections for people with pre-existing conditions.”

Trump in the op-ed likened Medicare for all with radical socialism and said it would threaten seniors. Schumer said the column was just the latest effort to distract the public while the administration “engages in a purposeful sabotage of our nation’s healthcare system.”  

Schumer noted that Democrats are forcing a vote to overturn the Trump administration’s “junk insurance” rule, which expands non-ObamaCare insurance plans. The effort is meant to put Republicans on the record against pre-existing condition protections ahead of the midterm elections next month.

Democrats say the vote will highlight that Trump and congressional Republicans support the expansion of non-ObamaCare plans that can deny coverage for people with pre-existing conditions, an issue that Democrats have made the centerpiece of their electoral strategy.