On Tuesday, Trump gave his first State of the Union speech. While it was very well received by America, and covered topics as varied as immigration, infrastructure and nuclear strategy, one thing was not mentioned.
There was made no mention of either Obamacare, or any future healthcare reform initiatives. It seems that major healthcare reform is no longer a priority for the White House, although certain partial repeals and modifications to Obamacare have been made.
This is a distinctly sharp change in priorities, as in his inaugural address, Trump spoke, saying, “Tonight, I am also calling on this Congress to repeal and replace ObamaCare with reforms that expand choice, increase access, lower costs, and, at the same time, provide better health care.”
“Mandating every American to buy government-approved health insurance was never the right solution for our country,” he continued. “The way to make health insurance available to everyone is to lower the cost of health insurance, and that is what we are going do.”
However, the House GOP and Paul Ryan are still trying to enact the full reforms of their “Better Way” plan, which involves fundamental reform of healthcare, entitlements, Social Security, and numerous other topics like national defense and judicial reform.
During Alex Azar’s swearing-in ceremony, as the new Secretary of Health and Human Services -previously held by Tom Price – Trump noted, “As our new secretary, Alex will continue to implement the administrative and regulatory changes needed to ensure that our citizens get the affordable high-quality care that they deserve.” For many, this can only happen if Obamacare is repealed, and overturned. Hopefully Trump and the GOP have not surrendered the fight against Obamacare, and socialized healthcare.