Insurance For $12? Trump Betrays Health Care Ignorance In NYT Interview

[DonViejo]

By ALICE OLLSTEIN Published JULY 20, 2017 11:13 AM

President Donald Trump’s interview with the New York Times on Wednesday garnered headlines for comments in which he lashed out at his own attorney general for recusing himself from the federal Russia probe and warned special counsel Bob Mueller not to look too closely into his personal finances and business ties.

But the President’s comments on health care—relevant as he involves himself in the Senate’s struggle to repeal the Affordable Care Act—are just as shocking, revealing a deep ignorance of the basic parameters of the American health care system.


Asked by the Times’ Maggie Haberman about the political difficulty of taking away a benefit that the American people have gotten used to—namely, Obamacare’s Medicaid expansion and generous tax credits—Trump gave a rambling answer describing a fantastical system where insurance costs just $12 per year and that money accrues in some sort of account over one’s lifetime:

“As they get something, it gets tougher. Because politically, you can’t give it away. So pre-existing conditions are a tough deal. Because you are basically saying from the moment the insurance, you’re 21 years old, you start working and you’re paying $12 a year for insurance, and by the time you’re 70, you get a nice plan. Here’s something where you walk up and say, “I want my insurance.” It’s a very tough deal, but it is something that we’re doing a good job of.”

Possibly confusing health insurance with life insurance, Trump seemed unaware that health care premiums can cost hundreds of dollars per month, even for a young, healthy individual.

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http://talkingpointsmemo.com/dc/trump-12-insurance-senate-obamacare-repeal

[jberryhill]

1. He's not even talking about health insurance

He's talking about a whole life or annuity life insurance plan which is cheap over the term and has a decent value when you are 70.

He saw it in a late night TV commercial:

[ProfessorGAC]

6. Nope. He's Talking About One Of Those Burial Plans

You hit 70, you die, you've been paying $12 per year with growth and you have enough to get cremated. And that's all they care about.

[Maeve]

2. Who knew health care could be this hard????

[Thomas Hurt]

3. He just makes shit up because he knows the base will buy anything that comes out of his mouth.

[obamanut2012]

4. what the actual hell

fuck everyone who voted for him, including my grandmother

[gratuitous]

7. What does that even mean?

"Here's something where you walk up and say, 'I want my insurance.'" What the what?!

Who's walking up and saying "I want my insurance." Who is this person walking up to? Why would the person being walked up to have the first person's insurance? Why is it a very tough deal, and how are we doing a good job of it? Are we doing a good job of making it a tough deal, or are we doing a good job of making it less tough? What's the desired outcome, tough or easy?

Anyone with an anti-matter language decoder, please help.

[Glimmer of Hope]

8. I think this only makes sense to one of his supporters.

[area51]

12. I'm wondering if it's yet more signs

of his dementia.

[WhiskeyGrinder]

9. Why the fuck did the NYT reporters just let this shit go? These aren't exclusive interviews,

they're small exercises in drilling a well into a word-vomit reservoir, publishing it, and touting their exclusive access.

[Cracklin Charlie]

10. The Times should have just typed "garble" for every answer.

None of that makes any sense.

[Stinky The Clown]

11. The classic definition of IGNORANCE?