Marti Anderson

Iowa View contributor

In his State of the Union Address Tuesday night, President Donald Trump is sure to “self-proclaim” accomplishments on many issues, including health care.

Rather than proposing policies to lower health care costs and expand coverage for Americans, he’ll repeat his false promises on health care, as he’s done since the beginning of his 2016 presidential campaign. Trump has already let down Iowans on health care. Prescription drug prices continue to rise, the Affordable Care Act is being whittled away, and he proposes drastic cuts for Medicare and Medicaid.

Trump has promised that he and Republicans would “stand for protecting Social Security and Medicare and Medicaid.” But, last October he signed an executive order that opens the door to privatization of Medicare and allows private insurance companies to shift costs to seniors and limit their choice of providers. In January, he revealed his 2020 budget, if he is re-elected, would slash $845 billion from Medicare, $1.5 trillion from Medicaid, and $25 billion from Social Security.

During Trump’s presidency, there has been a huge spike in drug prices. His response? Give drug companies billions of dollars in tax breaks and oppose giving Medicare the authority to negotiate lower drug prices. Trump has told us, "drug prices are coming down, first time in 51 years, because of my administration." But, as of Jan. 3, drug companies had increased the prices of 445 products by a median of 5% according to 3-Axis Advisors. The truth is, drug companies continue to raise their prices and reap massive profits under President Trump.

Trump seems to be desperate and will say, but not do, the hard work of fixing health care. In January, the president lashed out at his HHS secretary over pharmacy costs. And polling shows the administration’s health care policies are wildly unpopular among voters.

Trump and his Republican allies have tried numerous times and failed to repeal the Affordable Care Act. They are now focused on a federal lawsuit to overturn the landmark health care law.

If the lawsuit is successful, 20 million Americans could lose their health insurance, and 135 million Americans with pre-existing conditions, including nearly 1.3 million Iowans, could lose access to coverage. Incredulously, Trump still claims he “saved” protections for those with pre-existing conditions, despite boasting about how his lawsuit would “terminate” the ACA and its consumer protections.

As the partisan lawsuit to overturn the ACA made its way through the courts, Trump wasted no time finding other ways to undermine Americans’ health care. His administration championed “junk insurance,” claiming it expands coverage to more people. In reality, those plans don’t always cover medical needs like mental health or prescription drugs and allow insurance companies to discriminate against people with pre-existing conditions by denying coverage or spiking premium costs. Expanding junk plans does nothing but harm Americans with pre-existing conditions who desperately need comprehensive coverage — something that Trump and Republicans know quite well.

Trump made lots of campaign promises and speeches claiming his health care plan would cover everyone. He claimed he is “far better” on health care than Democrats. However, under his administration, attacks on the ACA have already left 7 million Americans uninsured. Despite his many promises to release a “phenomenal” health care plan, he has yet to produce one. Polls have indicated that health care is a major topic of concern among voters and have also shown that Americans trust Democrats more than Republicans when it comes to devising health care plans.

The State of the Union address will be a major opportunity for the president to say he will lower prescription prices, protect Medicare and Medicaid, and try to undermine the ACA again, but the voters should see past the false promises the president makes and look at his record.

Marti Anderson of Des Moines represents House District 36 in the Iowa Legislature. Email: marti.anderson@legis.iowa.gov.