If Donald Trump’s presidency has brought about any real, unique change to the White House, it’s certainly been the turnover rate of officials and staffers who have resigned in either frustration or disgrace.
The Washington Post announced on Wednesday that yet another official has resigned thanks to the idiocy of President Trump and his administration.
‘Joel McElvain, who has worked at the Justice Department for more than 20 years, submitted his resignation letter Friday, the morning after Attorney General Jeff Sessions notified Congress that the agency will not defend the ACA — the 2010 law known as Obamacare — against lawsuits brought by Republican-led states challenging its requirement that most Americans carry health insurance.’
A senior DOJ official has quit after 20 years. Joel McElvain refused to serve an agency that would attack the pre-existing conditions protections offered by ObamaCare. Employees say they have lost a ton of institutional knowledge with his departure. https://t.co/x4HRMMlGYh
— James Kosur (@JamesKosur) June 13, 2018
Trump and GOP voters have long been disillusioned about the effects, both positive and negative, of the Affordable Care Act. The most vocal critics insist that insurance premiums have risen since its passage because they do not understand that premiums were already rising and have done so at a lower percentage rate than they had before.
Pre-existing conditions are covered and premiums have gone up more slowly under ACA. Facts.
— A to the B (@AaronBrynen) June 11, 2018
Another is that people are being “forced” to purchase insurance through the exchange, which is also not the case. Americans are required to be covered by either their employer or through private insurance companies and if their income is too low and their employer provides no insurance, they can purchase a plan through the exchange. However, no one is forced to do so. They can elect to pay a tax penalty to offset the cost of having uninsured Americans who go to the emergency room to take care of their basic health concerns.
More people were covered under the original ACA and there have been fewer personal bankruptcies. I am losing my provider going to the exchange, but without the ACA& allowance for pre-existing conditions, I would be without insurance. Blame your state.
— Ginger Edwards (@ginged78) June 12, 2018
Meanwhile, millions more people are covered today than when President Obama was elected. Considering Trump’s focus on the economy, this should be a positive result since uninsured Americans hurt the economy and drive up medical costs for the rest of us.
Another benefit of the ACA, the one that is without a doubt the most popular, is that those who have preexisting conditions, which in the past have included pregnancy, drug addiction, and being a woman, are now able to get the coverage they need. Trump and his administration announced their intention to remove this particular protection this week.
McConnell on Trump’s decision to support the Texas lawsuit that would invalidate Obamacare:
"Everybody I know in the Senate, everybody, is in favor of maintaining coverage for preexisting conditions. There's no difference in opinion about that whatsoever."
— Sahil Kapur (@sahilkapur) June 12, 2018
The GOP have tried to repeal the law  numerous times with no success. That’s because their insistence that the ACA is unconstitutional is simply untrue and the Supreme Court has already ruled on this.
Until the GOP stops their rhetoric and begins to focus on anything other than undoing all of the good that President Obama did during his terms, the American people will continue to suffer.
Featured image via Getty/SAUL LOEB
