Healthcare Smoke and Mirrors: Good Prez, Bad Congress
Do not be fooled. When Congress promises to take away everyone's healthcare, they are pandering to their base. Their base wants everyone except themselves to lose their healthcare.
Do not be fooled. When Trump promises healthcare for everyone, he is pandering to his base. His (business) base wants to continue to be able to make a profit from the U.S. Medical Industrial Complex--currently valued at 15% of the GNP! It can't do that if no one has insurance.
Here is how this one will play out. Congress will proudly announced that they have killed Obamacare. 
Their base will be delighted at how quickly the new Congress has attacked Obama's legacy---and then will ask "What about my health insurance?"
Trump will quickly step in with a veto. "Not so fast!" he'll say (much to the relief of the loyal base that wants to keep its own health insurance while everyone else does without). "Congress, do your job! I promised everyone insurance!"
What happens next? This involves some tea leaf reading, but I will take a stab at it:
1. Tax Credits for Insurance Premiums---because the GOP can call this a tax cut and stick it on their total of taxes cut! Those who are currently getting money to help pay premiums will instead be given a tax credit--which is great for those who make enough money to pay a lot of taxes, but not so good as your income goes down.
2. Medicaid will expand in all 50 states---because red states love federal handouts, they just did not want to accept one to which they had attached the named Obama. They will be more than happy to accept money to which they attach the name "Trump." Some extremely minor and inconsequential tweaking of the federal/state ratios of spending will suddenly make the Medicaid expansion palatable to GOP state legislators.
3. Private insurers will be able to deny you a policy or charge you higher rates for pre-existing conditions. This allows the GOP to get rid of the individual mandate. It will also make insurance companies extremely happy. What's that you say? Trump has promised that no one will be denied insurance due to pre-existing conditions? See number 4.
4. The return of high risk insurance pools. Eeks! Scary. 
Anyone who ever spent $25k a year paying for high risk insurance with a $10k per person deductible for two family members with (mild)asthma and (controlled)diabetes knows how horrible high risk insurance is. And how un-affordable. Meaning that many people who really ought to be insured go naked instead---and hospitals are forced to write off their care. So, how can Trump keep his promise to health care providers that they will not be stuck with unpaid bills for care rendered to patients with health conditions? Here is where the GOP is gonna have to get creative. See number 5.
5. First some background. We have two parallel health care systems in the U.S. One (the private) is for people who are not sick and do not need health care. The other (government funded) is for people who are sick and need health care in order to survive. The second exists to keep people from dying on the streets in front of little Trixie which might scar little Trixie for life. Trump has promised he won't let people die in the streets in front of little Trixie and even the most hard hearted Republican does not think that little Trixie should see something like that. It might make her start asking uncomfortable questions. How do we keep people from dying on the streets? Anyone who applied for and was denied a private insurance policy due to pre-existing conditions will be offered a bare bones Medicare Part A that will cover inpatient services including surgery but which will provide no outpatient coverage at all. This will have hospital administrators and surgeons singing Trump's praises---and will allow people to die of their preventable diseases in the hospital rather than on the streets.
So, in summary, look for a switch from government subsidies to tax credits, Medicaid expansion in all 50 states (because Walmart can not do business if its minimum wage employees are too sick to work), the return of "pre-existing conditions", the return of "high risk insurance pools" for those who actually want to treat their re-existing conditions and Medicare Part A Lite for those who would rather just die with dignity in a hospital from their pre-exiting conditions than spend half their disposable income paying for insurance.
If this all goes through, as I expect it will, look for our rate of preventable disease to climb, total health care spending in this country to climb, and life expectancy to decline under Trump and the GOP. Because the GOP does not care about the health of U.S. citizens. They care about the financial health of the insurance and provider industries. And if anyone complains "Where is the preventive care?" Trumps self styled outlaw base will shout back "Preventive health care is for pussies!"
= new reply since forum marked as read
This squirrel is really alarmed at the state of health care in our country.
