On Friday President Trump hosted the Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull in New York to commemorate a war in which their respective countries collaborated. The two leaders seemed to be getting along despite rumors of a testy call. In fact, they were getting along so well that Mr. Trump said something to PM Turnbull that elicited a few raised eyebrows. He told the Australian leader that he [President Trump] thought that the neighboring nation had a ‘better’ healthcare system than that of the US.
President Trump was alluding to the Affordable Care Act that his predecessor implemented seven years ago. The Obamacare Act, as the bill is referred to, sought to give cover to ordinary Americans by making it compulsory for states and insurers to offer cover for services such as pre-existing conditions, cancer, and emergency room visits. According to Mr. Trump, this bill made it expensive for people to get healthcare and cost insurers a lot of money. His party recently put a legislation through Congress to repeal the ACA and replace it with the ACHA.
Some of Mr. Trump’s more vocal opponents took advantage of his comment to the Australian PM and among them was left-wing Democrat Bernie Sanders. Sanders tweeted that he looked forward to ‘quoting’ President Trump on that remark. Similarly, the White House daily briefing was peppered with questions surrounding the vague remark. Did Mr. Trump truly believe that the Australian health care system was superior to the American one?
To answer that there would need to be a comparison between the two. The Australian health care plan is universal where the US act is individually based. In Australia, they government utilizes income tax to cover health benefits for each of its citizens. Because the system is fairly straightforward, it is efficient in covering all Australian permanent residents and citizens. Similarly, the cover is the same for everyone, thus individual feel responsible for ensuring quality care is given to each person. On the other hand, the Obamacare plan is not homogenous. Different people will get varying services from it. It has one thing going for it though; it keeps majority of the American population insured.
‘Everyone’s is better.’
After receiving backlash for his offhand comment, President Trump decided to clarify his statement. He did not mean that the Australian healthcare system was uniquely better than the current US healthcare plan, he thought ‘everyone’s was better.’ He then stated that that was the basis for his support of the proposed bill to replace the existing healthcare plan.
Deputy White House spokesperson Sarah Huckabee, standing in for Sean Spicer, augmented that argument made by POTUS. “He did not mean anything by it, he was merely complimenting Australia for its excellent healthcare system,” she stated. Huckabee reiterated that the Australian’s system might not work for the US as every nation is different. “He [President Trump] realizes that the system is broken and that is why he wants to fix it,” Huckabee added.
The White House expressed optimism that the proposed law would make it through the Senate with few major changes. Maybe then the nation would be up to par in its healthcare plan was the implication.
