What Agenda47 doesn't say: Trump backs off campaign promise to repeal Obamacare
Now that Vice President Kamala Harris has secured the Democratic nomination, voters are waiting to see if Republican nominee Donald Trump will debate her on key issues like healthcare.
Healthcare accessibility and costs worry the vast majority of Americans, polling shows, but it has largely taken a backseat in this rollercoaster of an election season.
Trump continued to rail against Obamacare earlier this year, but Agenda47, his official policy platform, only laid out his plan for drug prices, supply and addition, and a promise to protect Medicare.
KFF, a health policy research and news organization, conducts a policy comparison of the two presidential candidates every election cycle. But this year's comparison was especially hard, and not only because of the late change on the Democratic ticket.
KFF president and CEO Drew Altman said in a column it is difficult in part because Trump's policy proposals are vague.
"Trump avoids policy and policy details, both as a personal characteristic and a way to duck accountability and media criticism," Altman wrote, explaining that most candidates put in vast research for the policy plans. But this year, "the routine job of describing the differences between the two candidates on health issues is a thousand-piece puzzle."
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Trump made repealing Obamacare early campaign issue, left off platform
In 2017, Congressional Republicans under the Trump administration failed to overhaul the Affordable Care Act. But Trump continued to hammer the ACA, also known as Obamacare, in campaigning for the 2024 election.
“We’re going to fight for much better health care than Obamacare. Obamacare is a catastrophe,” he said in a Jan. 6 campaign speech in Iowa.
Democrats in March sought to use the act, which helps make health care more affordable and policies easier to understand, as a rallying point to mobilize supporters.
Trump's messaging around Obamacare has waned in recent months. Instead he has evoked it when talking about immigration, accusing migrants of using programs like Obamacare (undocumented immigrants are not eligible for Medicaid or coverage through the ACA marketplace unless specified at the state level, according to KFF.)
On Trump's official platform Agenda47, he left out the promise to repeal Obamacare entirely, instead vowing to lower drug prices, fix the drug shortages, end drug addiction and protect Medicaid. The official RNC platform also does not mention Obamacare or the Affordable Care Act, but promises to expand access to affordable healthcare. USA TODAY reached out to the Trump campaign for comment.
In a column penned after Harris emerged as Biden's replacement, Altman compared Trump's advantage on immigration sticking with voters as a match for Harris' advantage on healthcare.
"She has the Biden-Harris health care record to run on and can play offense on health care and build on an established advantage on abortion and health generally," Altman said.
Agenda47 promise not to cut Medicare funding 'squishy'
Trump's Agenda47 states "under no circumstances should Republicans vote to cut a single penny from Medicare or Social Security," blaming Biden for high spending in other areas.
Altman called the promise "squishy," and said if Republicans want to cut federal spending on health, it could come from Medicaid and the ACA.
While in office, Trump passed tax reductions that further depleted Medicare Part A Trust Fund and wiped out a federal board aimed at slowing Medicare spending, according to KFF.
But Altman said Medicare changes might not be totally off the table, as some Republicans are still advocating for changing the structure of Medicare.
Contributing: Julie Rovner, KFF Health News; Rachel Looker, USA TODAY
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Agenda47: Trump no longer campaigning on Obamacare repeal