Even when I was secretly hoping that Donald Trump would deliver on one of his key promises, he nonetheless leaves me hanging. Alas, I’m still going to pay an annual fine for not complying with the ObamaCare mandatory obligation to carry insurance. This is because Donald Trump has been unable to convince 50 GOP senators from the GOP-dominated senate to vote on repealing ObamaCare.

Consider the following two inconvenient facts:

1. The Senate is GOP controlled, and

2. The signature legislation that the GOP has been pushing for years is the repeal of ObamaCare.

One would think that Donald Trump, who ran on the GOP ticket, would have negotiated the passage of the legislation as soon as he assumed office. But he hasn’t. There are all sorts of excuses about the Democrats being obstructionists to GOP members demanding too much. The bottom line, though, is that Donald Trump ran on the notion that he was a great negotiator; a great deal maker, if you will.

Any government policy requires that legislation is adopted through negotiation. Seldom, if ever, will all legislators agree. Such is the nature of democracy. In this case, we have the closest thing to like-minded policy makers in the Senate, the House and in the presidency, all led by Republicans, who have as their center piece, the agenda of repealing ObamaCare.

The legislature is controlled by the GOP and Trump ran on the GOP ticket. All of them have the goal of repealing ObamaCare.

But it remains the law of the land.

What happened to the deal maker that promised to deliver on his promises? It seems Trump voters were duped.

For those astute readers reading this today, I am aware of that the Trump administration has issued a directive to the IRS to not enforce the mandate requirement. The funding legislation prohibits the federal government from using money to enforce the insurance requirement. So why am I still voluntarily reporting my failure to keep health insurance and thus paying the fine?

Because of the broken immigration system. I am not a citizen, but a legal resident of the country. As a resident, I must abide by all the laws to be allowed to remain in the country. In case you haven’t noticed, the Donald Trump administration has ramped up deportations for legal immigrants when they run afoul of the law.

Although the Trump administration has ordered officials not to pursue those that fail to carry health insurance, the mandate law remains in place. As a non-U.S. citizen, I must abide by the law. If I do not self-report, I would be breaking the law and thus subject myself to possible deportation.

My only relief would have been a repeal of ObamaCare.

But no, Donald Trump can’t deliver even on the most basic and central promise that the Republicans can agree on and promised to their constituency.

Martin Paredes

Martín Paredes is a Mexican immigrant who built his business on the U.S.-Mexican border. As an immigrant, Martín brings the perspective of someone who sees México as a native through the experience...

5 replies on “Trump Dealmaker and Healthcare Failure”

  1. Martin
    Now wait a minute the Democrats have been whining,wailing , bitching and wringing their hand over the Republicans repealing Obamacare and claiming how great it is. Now the Republicans are not going to do nothing. The problem is Obamacare was failing long before Trump even announced he was running for President. The Democrats got what they want and if Obamacare is so great it will do just fine.Right!
    Martin this is the hypocrisy of the Democrats and you seems the side you support doesn’t want to take responsibility for this piece of dung they created and have pitched a fit if some one tries to fix it and now it is going to fly or die on it own. The whining,bitching and wailing and hand wringing starts up again this is the insanity of the left. This is why the left keeps losing if fails to take ownership of it screw ups and blames any one and every one but themselves.
    Martin if Obamacare fails it’s on the Democrats.

  2. Not only that but the GOP leadership in the Senate told Trump to let them work their process. He’s just starting to do his thing right now. Personally, I wish everyone would listen to Rand Paul. Back when insurance companies were terrified of the potential outcome of healthcare reform (pre-Obama election and the gift to insurers known as ACA), the framework Paul is referring to was put into effect. It was right after United Healthcare was penalized for “fixing” the underwriting program. I had an association plan (still have the grandfathered version at 2x the premium). I had all the preventive care perqs later mandated by ACA (no maternity coverage because I’m past that point in life) and an HSA compatible plan with reasonable coverages for routine and in hospital care at a price of $305 per month. Many of my other self-employed friends had coverage through their professional associations. My hairdresser had skin cancer and was insured through Texas’ high risk pool at a premium comparable to mine (with slightly better out-of-pocket cost). ACA wiped out all those programs and neither my self-employed friends or I qualified for any of the “credits” we all had to bear the full brunt of higher premiums and less choice in doctors. I stick with my grandfathered plan because under ACA the only HSA-compatible plans are bronze junk insurance. Health insurers are making billions. We need to stop giving them corporate welfare and start putting caps on premiums since they aren’t regulating themselves and it is a limited choice, regulated market. We also need more cost transparency to help keep avoidable costs under control. There is no “right” to healthcare. We need a system that lets people insure themselves at reasonable cost, but we shouldn’t be giving able-bodied employable individuals subsidies to pay premiums. Nor should we give insurance companies subsidies when they are making profits and paying huge bonuses. In short, we need to return to personal responsibility by eliminating the smoke and mirrors that forces people to pay unsustainable premiums and have no clue about their medical costs. Imagine going to a grocery store, having to shop for products with no price and having your total cost at checkout dictated by what color shopper card you carried in wallet. That is our current healthcare system in many cases. I ask price before I incur elective medical expense. In about 1 out of 4 cases, I get a good answer. Most of the time the answer is, “its for your health or its covered under insurance.”

  3. Immigrants, documented or undocumented, now have to live in fear less they be deported in this times of anti-everyone, to paraphrase the Hurricane “And any immigrant will do?”.

    El trompas excels in blaming everyone else for his failures, vengeful acts, and hate mongering.

    “We’re not going to own it – I’m not going to own it – I can tell you the Republicans are not going to own it,” Trump told reporters at the White House. “We’ll let Obamacare fail and then the Democrats are going to come to us.” (From USA Today, 7/18/2017).

    In our stratified society we prefer to squander our wealth in the destruction of nations and building stupid walls instead of providing healthcare for the people. During the Washington Journal’s programs on healthcare many republican callers were very concerned of losing their ACA coverage. The media covered many town hall meetings in Republican lands where the citizens where very vocal about what the Rs where doing to take away their healthcare.

    We are a nation of hating and blaming those that have less and rewarding and admiring the crooks of the upper echelons.

    “The poor stay poor, the rich get rich
    That’s how it goes
    Everybody knows”

    Leonard Cohen

  4. Pati ACA was a piece of shit from the start it never was about getting Americans affordable health care or health insurance it was always about putting the American people on the hook to the health insurance industry. Pati these two industry have poured more than a billion dollars into Congress to make sure they get the wind fall from our tax dollars and to have the right to rape, loot and pillage the American people’s pocket book. Pati their strategy is real simple highest cost for health insurance for the least possible coverage.
    The truth is the leadership of either of the parties does not give a rat’s ass about average Americans or the working poor, much less the poor. We are a revenue source that’s it,after that they may want a vote from time to time then they want us to shut the hell up and go away. That is why it is time for a viable Third party. Let’s call it the Moderate Conservative/ Liberal Party (MCLP) that represents where most Americans are political in the center.

  5. Even with Liberals love of Obamacare, they never discuss the major problems with it nor the 4 million that were not covered under this great plan.

    When quoting Leonard Cohen and calling the US names, take that same quote and see if it doesn’t apply to countries that create conditions that cause people flee their homes. At what point do these countries take responsibility instead of always stating its America’s fault ?

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