Donald Trump may need to rethink his health care idea because his new plan is facing serious backlash.
As the government shutdown slowly comes to an end, some Democrats have backed away from extending subsidies for the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare). In the middle of this, Trump has been promoting his own vision for what he calls a better American health care system.
In a Monday night interview on Fox News, Trump explained his proposal in his usual confident style. He said he wants the government to stop giving money to insurance companies and instead put that money into personal accounts for citizens. People would then use those accounts to buy their own health insurance directly. “It’ll be better, cheaper, and everyone will be happy,” Trump said. “They’ll feel like entrepreneurs because they can shop around and negotiate their own plans. And it’ll only be used for health care—that’s the beauty of it.”
He continued by saying, “Call it Trumpcare, call it whatever you want—just not Obamacare. Obamacare was a disaster, just like the man who created it.”
Over the weekend, Trump posted several times on Truth Social, encouraging Senate Republicans to create a bill that would send health care funds directly to Americans instead of insurance companies. He argued that this approach would increase competition and lower costs.
However, many experts and lawmakers say Trump’s idea would make things much worse. Critics argue that Obamacare at least provides a structured marketplace where people can use government subsidies to buy private insurance plans. Trump’s plan, on the other hand, seems to remove that system entirely, leaving people on their own to find and negotiate health coverage—something most Americans aren’t prepared to do.
Democrats have pushed to extend ACA subsidies to help make insurance more affordable, while Republicans accuse them of simply helping insurance companies profit. But with those subsidies ending soon, insurance premiums are expected to rise sharply starting in January—possibly doubling for some individuals.
Senator Chris Murphy from Connecticut didn’t hold back his criticism. He wrote on X, “This makes no sense. Is he really suggesting that we get rid of health insurance, hand people a few thousand dollars, and expect them to pay for treatment when they get cancer? That’s not a plan—it’s chaos.”
Under the current system, people who buy insurance through Obamacare never actually see the subsidy money—it goes straight to their insurers to help pay for coverage. Trump wants to change that by giving the money directly to individuals. The problem is that it would shift the responsibility of finding and negotiating health insurance from experts and companies to ordinary citizens who may not understand how to navigate such a complex system.
Brian S. King, a health insurance attorney and Democratic leader in Utah, compared Trump’s idea to “sending lambs to the slaughter.”
Meanwhile, Senator Bernie Sanders offered a different solution. He mocked Republicans’ sudden concern about greedy insurance companies, writing, “If you really want to stop insurance companies from ripping off Americans, then join me in supporting Medicare for All. Health care should be a human right, not a privilege.”
Despite the criticism, some Republicans praised Trump’s proposal. Florida Senator Rick Scott, who once led a company accused of massive health care fraud, said he was already preparing a bill to turn Trump’s idea into law, calling it “simply brilliant.”
In the end, while Trump’s health care plan has created excitement among his loyal supporters, most experts and lawmakers agree it lacks structure and would likely leave millions of Americans without proper health coverage. Many believe the former president will need to take his “Trumpcare” idea back to the drawing board if he wants it to stand any chance of working.
