Harris and Walz Highlight Affordable Care Act in Campaign
Vice President Kamala Harris and her running mate, Tim Walz, the Governor of Minnesota, have quickly made the Affordable Care Act (ACA) a cornerstone of their campaign strategy. They emphasize the potential consequences of a Republican return to power, particularly under former President Donald J. Trump, who has made previous attempts to repeal the ACA. During a recent rally in Philadelphia, Ms. Harris warned, “If Donald Trump gets the chance, he will end the Affordable Care Act and take us back to a time when insurance companies had the power to deny people with pre-existing conditions. You remember what that was like?”
The following day, at a rally in Detroit, Governor Walz echoed these sentiments, stating that Mr. Trump would persist in his efforts to undermine the healthcare law because “he doesn’t care.” Their campaign is currently facing an unusual situation: an opponent who appears to lack a clear stance on healthcare reform.
Absent from this election cycle is a cohesive and organized Republican effort to dismantle the Affordable Care Act, despite their past attempts which have repeatedly failed. Although Mr. Trump hinted at another repeal effort in November, he later walked back those comments in the spring, vaguely suggesting that he would strive to make the health law “much better” without providing specific details.
The Biden administration has made significant strides in healthcare access, nearly doubling enrollment in its marketplaces by implementing subsidies designed to reduce the cost of insurance plans. According to a statement from Karoline Leavitt, a spokeswoman for the Trump campaign, “President Trump is not running to terminate the Affordable Care Act. He is running to make health care actually affordable.”
