Donald Trump is a former president He will return to the White House after winning Tuesday night’s election.
As of Wednesday morning, Trump passed the 270 electoral votes necessary to secure the presidency, which could lead to major changes in the health care field.
During his campaign, Trump vowed to make the Affordable Care Act “better” and protect “women.” He also suggested that Robert F. Kennedy Jr. would shape his administration’s public health agenda.
This is the second Trump term in office for health policies including health insurance and reproductive rights.
The future of the ACA and Medicare
Trump has been inconsistent in his plans for the Affordable Care Act (ACA), the landmark law signed into law by then-President Barack Obama in 2010.
During his first term, Trump tried several times to repeal the ACA, but was unsuccessful. In November 2023, he too he vowed to replace it Truth Social in a post on its social media.
Former Republican President Donald Trump arrives for an election night party at the Palm Beach Convention Center on November 6, 2024 in West Palm Beach, Florida.
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Since then, it has changed course. In March, Trump said he was “not running to end the ACA,” but said he wanted to make it “better” and “more expensive.” A post from Truth Social.
during September presidential debateHe said he had “concepts of a plan” and said it would be “better health care than Obamacare,” but offered few details.
There could also be changes to Medicare, the federal health insurance program for people 65 and older and people with disabilities.
Trump has done it He promoted Medicare Advantagemanaged by commercial insurers. What’s more, Project 2025 — a blueprint for conservative policy proposals proposed by the Heritage Foundation and not endorsed by Trump — has proposed making Medicare Advantage the default option for Medicare coverage.
The experts have said that could privatize the program and prevent them from receiving care from doctors and hospitals that do not accept Medicare Advantage.
Those with pre-existing conditions are also at risk. Under the ACA, insurers cannot charge more or deny coverage to someone or their children because of a pre-existing health condition. However, Vice President JD Vance has done so propose Placing people with chronic conditions into separate risk groups, which can raise premiums for those with pre-existing conditions.
Kennedy vows to remove fluoride from drinking water, vaccine review
At a charity dinner in New York City last month, Trump hostage That it would make Kennedy “brutal in health.”
Kennedy, an environmental attorney with no public health or medical background, has spoken about health policy he would like to see include fluoride in drinking water and a vaccine overhaul.
in one Interview with NPR On Wednesday morning, Kennedy doubled down on whether the Trump administration would advise local governments to remove fluoride from their water supplies.
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. speaks at a campaign rally for Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump at Macomb Community College on November 1, 2024 in Warren, Michigan.
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He said fluoride in drinking water affects children’s neurological development and that other countries that have removed fluoride from their water supply have not seen an increase in cavities.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says that fluoride prevents cavities and tooth damage caused by bacteria in the mouth. Fluoride also replaces minerals lost from teeth due to acid breakdown, according to the agency.
Kennedy also told NPR that he would work “immediately” to increase research on vaccine safety, though he stressed, “We’re not going to take vaccines away from anybody.”
“We’re going to make sure Americans have good information,” he said. “Right now, the science of vaccine safety, in particular, has major deficits. We’re going to make sure that those scientific studies are done, and that people can make informed choices about their vaccines and their children’s vaccines.”
Senior officials at the US Food and Drug Administration they said Vaccines approved by the FDA as “high quality, effective and safe.”
in an interview NBC NewsHe also suggested laying off many employees of the FDA’s food division.
Uncertainty about the future of reproductive rights
Even Trump has it credit taken Roe v. Because of ending Wade — which was overturned by the U.S. Supreme Court in 2022 — he hesitated to express his position on abortion during his campaign.
During the September presidential debate, he said he believed in exemptions for rape, incest and saving the mother’s life, but declined to say whether he would veto a national ban.
However, he wrote in October X on the social platform that he would not support a federal ban on abortion, and said that abortion laws depend on the will of individual state voters.
said Trump CBS News in August he would not use the 150-year-old Comstock Act to ban the mail-order of abortion pills. he scolded from some conservatives and anti-abortion advocates.
In September, at a rally in Pennsylvania, he said he would be a the “protector” of women. and that they “wouldn’t think about abortion” if they chose. He doubled down on those claims during a rally in Wisconsin last month, Trump said “protect” women. “Whether women like it or not.”
He did not offer specifics on what it means to be a “sponsor” in that capacity.
ABC News’ Will McDuffie contributed to this report.
