CONCORD, NH – The New Hampshire Democratic Party held an online roundtable this week to discuss how they believe Donald Trump would harm healthcare for senior citizens if he is re-elected.
State Sen. Cindy Rosenwald (D-Nashua) voiced her frustration with a lack of specifics from the White House in attacking the COVID-19 pandemic, and voicing concerns that his efforts to repeal the Affordable Care Act would endanger Medicare access for over 300,000 New Hampshire residents.
Rosenwald also feared Trump’s attempts to institute a block grant system on Medicaid as well.
Ned Helms, former Commissioner of the New Hampshire Department of Health and Human Services, went further.
“He doesn’t have anything better, he doesn’t care,” said Helms. “He tramples over programs that help other people. He just doesn’t care.”
For Helms, programs like Medicaid and Social Security are not mere entitlements to be removed on a whim, but something Americans have invested in through their taxes for decades with the expectation that they will be helped by it when their turn comes.
“This is not some sort of random mercy Trump can deliver, this is earned,” he said.
Heather Carroll, Advocacy Director, NH Alliance for Healthy Aging, told the panel that seniors have been struggling during the pandemic, fearful of public activities and now more vulnerable to fraud thanks to social isolation. She also expressed the frustration seniors are feeling when they believe they are being asked to sacrifice themselves for the greater good of society.
Trump released a six-page plan in late August vowing to protect Social Secuity and Medicare, but did not provide details on how this would be accomplished.
