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Voting for Trump hazardous to your health

My grandmother used to say: “As long as you have your health, you have everything. If you don’t have your health, you have nothing.”

As we prepare to vote in the upcoming presidential election, it would be well to remember her admonition. Donald Trump has been vague about his policies and proposals regarding health care, promising only that it will be “great,” and better than before.

He has offered no specifics about how he plans to accomplish this, but we do have his track record.

During his presidency he: sued unsuccessfully to overturn the Affordable Care Act; tried to repeal the ACA; tried to remove $7 billion in funding for the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP), the health plan that pays for vaccines, check-ups, and other care for kids; decreased enrollment times and funding for enrollment assistance for insurance exchange plans; and cut funding from the program which allows veterans to seek care outside the VA system.

This has a real impact on people’s health. People who don’t have health insurance live sicker and die younger. Without insurance, people don’t have access to routine and ongoing care. Health insurance also sometimes covers necessary medications, so without it, conditions like diabetes and high blood pressure are not controlled, and may lead to serious complications and death.

That’s what living sicker and dying younger means, and could happen if Trump is returned to the Oval Office. Trump’s goal to abolish or significantly weaken the ACA would potentially affect millions of people; if not you, then certainly someone you know.

One thing that Trump has been very clear about is his desire to gut Federal institutions, particularly those he doesn’t like. Remember, during COVID he fought with the experts and tried to offer unproven treatments such as injecting bleach.

Institutions like the Centers for Disease Control, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the Food and Drug Administration have been protecting Americans for generations. They offer non-partisan, non-political advice and direction which have kept us safe.

Let me give you an example: In the 1950’s, there was a drug called Thalidomide which was marketed in Europe for treatment of nausea during pregnancy (morning sickness.) The FDA refused to permit it to be marketed and sold in the U.S. because they did not believe that there was sufficient safety data.

Within months, reports started coming in of horrible birth defects, absent or deformed limbs, which were due to the drug. These birth defects caused lifelong misery for the children affected, as well as the sorrow caused to their families.

CHIP provides funding for vaccines, check-ups, and other healthcare for kids. Trump tried to cut $7 billion from the program during his presidency. This would have affected millions of kids. As I said before, if not you, then someone you know.

There is a stark choice facing us in November. I respectfully submit that you should vote as if your health depends upon it, because it does. Grandma was right.

Dr. Gurman is a hand surgeon in Altoona and a former President of the American Medical Association (AMA). His opinions are his own and he does not speak for the AMA.

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