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NEWS

Democrats plan health care broadside at Trump during Orlando visit

Antonio Fins
afins@pbpost.com

Democrats believe healthcare was a winner for them in the 2018 blue wave elections, and they plan to remind President Donald Trump of that in Central Florida next.

Trump is scheduled to speak at a healthcare conference in Orlando on March 13.

The Florida Democratic Party is to announce on Friday a one-week campaign it says will hold the president “accountable for his three years of failed health care policies, contrasting the president’s repeated attempts to reduce access to care with the Democratic agenda to expand affordable, accessible health care.”

The effort, which begins Monday, will include a “Fight for Health Care Tour,” a series of roundtable discussions with Democratic Party chairwoman Terrie Rizzo and health care stakeholders, from “medical professionals to community leaders to patients with preexisting conditions.”

The campaign will also include a billboard in Orlando to “contrast” the Trump administration and Democratic health care agendas. The billboard will read: “Trump’s America. The rich get richer, the poor get sicker.”

“Trump is not working for people struggling to pay their medical bills, he’s working for big corporations trying to increase their profits,” said party executive director Juan Peñalosa in a statement. “We can’t afford another four years of a president who prioritizes corporate interests over people with pre-existing conditions.”

Pollsters and analysts say health care was a winner for Democrats in the midterm elections two years ago. Among the gains were more than 40 House seats, including two in South Florida, that gave the party control of the U.S. House.

But health care has also been a fault line in the Democratic presidential nominating process. It drew a broad gap between advocates for a Medicare for All system, such as U.S. Sens. Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren, and more moderates, like former Vice President Joe Biden, U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar and former South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg.

The latter said they believe expanding Obamacare was a more effective and affordable way to provide sufficient insurance coverage for Americans.

Trump and the GOP seized on the Medicare for All proposal, which would replace private insurance plans with a government plan, because of its large cost.

“Dems plan a government TAKEOVER of healthcare. That means ELIMINATING private plans (like Blue Cross/Blue Shield)!” Trump tweeted last May.

The debate over Medicare for All aside, Democrats say, their alternatives are better than the president’s.

“Florida Democrats are crisscrossing the state to let voters know what is at stake in 2020: your health care,” Peñalosa said. “A Donald Trump victory means an end to the Affordable Care Act, an end to pre-existing condition protections and billions cut from Medicare. Democrats have a record of expanding affordable healthcare and, unlike the President, we have plans for every single American to access quality care.”

Rendering of billboard

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