Where Do Clinton, Trump and Sanders Stand on the Affordable Care Act (ACA)?

Posted: July 20, 2016

by John Hansen

Political Analyst Comments That It’s Very Difficult to Say Where Hilary and Trump Stand on ACA/Obamacare

At the CAHU Capital Summit, before a crowd of California insurance agents, I asked the following question of political analyst Gary Dietrich: “Can you summarize Hilary Clinton and Donald Trump’s views on the Affordable Care Act (ACA)? And, then tell us how things may be affected based on who is elected president.”

Hilary Clinton on the Affordable Care Act

Not missing a beat, Dietrich responded, “Who knows?”, which ultimately filled the room with laughter. Then, he added, “There’s what they say [about the ACA] and what’s likely to happen.” Hilary Clinton says that her views on the Affordable Care Act are closer to President Obama. She plans to continue to support Health Care Reform/Obamacare and work to improve the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA).

Donald Trump and Bernie Sanders on Obamacare

Donald Trump says he aims to throw out Obamacare and do something better, maybe even Medicare for all. This has led to some comparisons between Trump and Bernie Sanders. Ultimately, Dietrich says, “We don’t really know. Some things are going to change. The politics pressing both ways on [the ACA] are just so strong that the status quo is not likely to remain. So get ready for January 20^th of next year when we have a new president and a new Congress. There’s going to be at least some tweaking [to the Affordable Care Act], and there may be something much larger than tweaking.”

• Hilary Clinton – supports the ACA

• Donald Trump – says throw out the ACA and replace it with Medicare for all

• Bernie Sanders – says let’s go to Single Payer

Bringing it back to insurance agents, he said, “You are in 1 of 3 industries, along with energy and possibly technology, that could see some major changes.” He concluded, “We may get to have a better idea [regarding their views on the ACA] when both parties execute their platforms in Philadelphia and Cleveland in July and get more specific about this.”

For many Obamacare in California and the Affordable Care Act is not sounding as good as Bernie-Care in California. Dietrich commented, “The California Nursing Association has gotten behind Bernie [Sanders]… People are asking, ‘Why are they supporting Bernie in California?’ Because this is their issue, and they want to make sure that they are helping drive that agenda, so [the ACA and] health care’s going to be one of the top three to five issues talked about in this group [of three presidential candidates].”