VARNER: Trump is not thinking about your health

The Republican Party is currently making yet another attempt to push through a less than efficient health care bill. President Donald Trump has stated from the beginning of the campaign that one of his main goals in office is to repeal Obamacare — and his desperation to get this bill through makes that very clear.

Since its inception, the Cassidy-Graham health care bill has been faced with a wall of resistance from insurers, doctors, politicians and the people it will impact across the United States. Why is this? Simply put, the bill will not meet the basic needs of the American people’s health. It was created out of nothing more than Republican pressure to repeal the Affordable Care Act.

Senator John McCain recently announced his disapproval for the bill, tweeting, “I cannot in good conscience vote for Graham Cassidy.”

Along with Trump’s own party rejecting the bill, doctors and insurance companies are condemning it too. Six major medical groups released a joint statement that tore the bill apart, pointing out that above all, it does not give all Americans “high-quality care and affordable coverage.”

The groups that spoke out include the American Medical Association, American Academy of Family Physicians, American Hospital Association, Federation of American Hospitals, America’s Health Insurance Plans and the BlueCross BlueShield Association.

If the top professionals in both the Republican Party and in the world of health care reject Graham-Cassidy, why does Trump continue to push for the bill to pass? Trump does not care about the health of Americans. He cares about furthering the promises he ran on, because he knows he has yet to follow through on anything he said he would do as president.

Trump tweeted, “I know Rand Paul and I think he may find a way to get there for the good of the Party!”

This tweet makes it very clear that Trump’s goals lie in building up his reputation and that of the Republican Party. He continues ignore all opposition, even when the opposition is nothing but facts given by professionals. Even worse, he ignores the terror Americans are feeling towards this bill.

The bill will make everything from being a new mother to living with a mental illness more expensive and more dangerous. Additionally, people with cancer or chronic illnesses might see their insurance become unaffordable with the passing of this bill. When insurance is made unaffordable for those who need daily treatment, people die.

Even celebrities like Jimmy Kimmel have come forward to express their opposition. Kimmel spoke on his show about how his son was born with serious medical conditions, and how parents without insurance in the same situation would have to struggle to afford keeping their children alive. The extent to which people will lose insurance from the bill is still unknown — the GOP is trying to push it through before the numbers even come out — they are clearly aware that people will suffer and die without affordable health care, they just don’t want us to know that yet.

I am a firm believer that a health care bill should not kill people. It seems like common sense, but for some reason it is not. I do not want to live in an America where people are going to die because they cannot afford the cancer treatment they need, or because they no longer have coverage for their antidepressants.

Women especially are left at a disadvantage with this bill, though that should not come as a surprise. Trump has made his opinions on women quite clear. Even so, the fact that 13 million women could lose maternity care is ridiculous. Women’s reproductive health will become even more expensive and difficult to maintain, as if it is not already a problem in this country.

Although this bill is still short on the votes it needs to pass and increasing opposition from influential Republicans is making it even less likely Trump will get all the necessary votes, we should still be extremely worried. Donald Trump will not stop trying to repeal Obamacare. He has made it clear that he will go to extreme lengths in order to accomplish this. Health care that kills Americans and takes away coverage for millions is not acceptable. We as citizens cannot stand by and watch as our neighbors lose the ability to afford being alive.

Trump may be OK with people dying as long as he repeals the Affordable Care Act, but I am not. We need to come up with something better and stronger that upholds American values and represents the American people properly. The United States is supposed to be a land of opportunity and equality, but if people cannot afford to live, it will no longer be characterized as such. Do not let Trump destroy the ideals of our nation.