Will Trump ruin healthcare in the US? 67% of people are worried he will
Many policies set in place by Obama, maybe up on the chopping block, or massively altered to fit the Trump Presidency. This has many Americans worried about what may happen to their pockets and lives over the next four years. However an online coupon and money saving website can reveal what concerns people about the effect Trump may have on healthcare.
Obamacare has never been a widely popular policy and was something the new President sought to scrap when elected, so far the POTUS has taken steps to dismantle the work of his predecessor Barack Obama already. Many Americans are now worried that healthcare could be at risk, even though so far the decision to use Obamacare has now been left to individual states. They worry about what effect this can have.
To find out more, and as part of their ongoing research into living costs for US families, www.coupondash.com investigated to find out if people were worried about what will become of the healthcare system under Trump. They surveyed over 1000 families in the US, asking: “Do you have any concerns regarding President Trump changing healthcare in the US?”. A massive 67% of respondents came back saying they did, whilst only 21% didn’t and 12% were not sure.
The concerns of citizens worried about the changes to current healthcare systems were:
- Higher insurance premiums
- Loss of access
- Increased social security costs
- Losing Obamacare
- Increased debt
- Higher mortality rates
Planned Parenthood supporters at protest 2011 photo/S. MiRK via wikimedia commons
This is what people had to say:
“There will continue to be tiered healthcare and working people will be used to make the insurance companies richer.”
“I think we will see state imposed regulations that drive the cost of healthcare through the roof.”
“I’m worried about losing preventative care for women’s health issues especially the loss of Planned Parenthood.”
Recent research from Coupon Dash also showed that many people are starting to forgo things they once enjoyed to be able to afford healthcare for themselves and their family. They found majority of people, 52%, have cut out going out for meals, whilst 49% of people do not spend money on the latest gadgets any more. A lot of people also forgo other incidentals such as cable TV and cell phone contracts. The research showed many of the respondents have said affording healthcare is an issue:
“I cannot afford healthcare and don’t qualify for Medicare. I worry a lot about my situation.”
“I can just about afford my family’s healthcare, but I feel we should not have to sacrifice anything for it. It should be a human right and we should have universal healthcare like Canada, Israel and the UK.“
“I work two jobs to be able to afford healthcare without sacrificing any of the above. If not then I would have to make sacrifices.”
Speaking about the financial issues families in the US are facing Chris Reilly Managing Director at Coupon Dash said:
“We have seen that not everyone is supportive of President Trump and our research shows a lot of people have concerns regarding decisions he has already made and may make regarding healthcare. Many people pay insurance to cover their healthcare and that of their families, whether that’s through their job or personally. If changes are made to current bills in effect, which could see a knock on effect and premiums rise, a lot of people are going to struggle.”
He added:
“Obviously we know not everyone will disagree with the policies made by this new administration, however it is the knock on effect that could affect people more than they realise. This can be people losing accesses to treatments they currently get, increased social security costs to cover shortfalls or people unable to work due to ill health, as well as increasing personal debt.”
Author: Lolita Di
photo Will O’Neill via Flickr
