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10 of the biggest lies Donald Trump told about Trumpcare.

This isn't the bill he campaigned on.

During his campaign for president, Donald Trump set himself apart from the other Republicans vying for the nomination by claiming his election would mean a new health care system — one with lower costs, better care, and universal coverage. It all sounded pretty good, actually.

But now that he's in office, his tune has changed.


Trump has endorsed both the House and Senate versions of health care reform, even though they're exactly the types of plans he claimed he was against: ones that gut Medicaid, reduce the number of people with health insurance, and do nothing to control costs.

On Monday, the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office confirmed the Senate's bill is as bad as originally thought, leaving 22 million additional people uninsured.

So what gives? Was Trump lying during the campaign (something he has more than a bit of history with), or does he simply not know what he's endorsing? Whatever these new health care bills are, they're not what he promised.

Here are 10 of the biggest differences between what Trump promised and what he helped deliver.

1. Everybody will have health insurance and access to care.

"We’re going to have insurance for everybody. There was a philosophy in some circles that if you can’t pay for it, you don’t get it. That’s not going to happen with us." —Trump in a Jan. 15, 2017, Washington Post interview

GIF from CBS/YouTube.

GIF from CBS/YouTube.

While Trump has claimed to support making sure everybody has access to health care numerous times over the past two decades (In 2015, he even proposed a government-funded system on "60 Minutes"), this bill will cause 22 million more people to lose access to care.

2. Health insurance will cover more, cost less, and have lower deductibles.

"We will create quality, reliable, affordable health care in a free market where parents can make the health care decisions that they really want to make for their families. It will be a much better health care at a much less expensive cost." — Trump at a Nov. 1, 2016, rally in Valley Forge, Pennsylvania

"Care will get better and costs will go down" is a great bumper-sticker-ready slogan, but it's not realistic.

The ACA slowed the pace of annual premium increases to the lowest they've been in decades. The truth is that both House and Senate versions of the new health care bill will lead to skyrocketing premiums and won't do much in terms of lowering deductibles either. As far as the "great health care" aspect of this goes, eliminating essential health benefits will lower the overall quality of health insurance plans.

3. People with pre-existing conditions won't lose coverage.

[rebelmouse-image 19529319 dam="1" original_size="450x253" caption="GIF from Face the Nation/YouTube." expand=1]GIF from Face the Nation/YouTube.

While both House and Senate bills say insurance companies can't deny someone coverage on the basis of pre-existing conditions, insurance companies will once again be allowed to charge those people a significantly higher premium, pricing them out of the market, which will have the same effect.

4. There will be no cuts to Medicaid.

[rebelmouse-image 19529320 dam="1" original_size="450x253" caption="GIF from Daily Signal/YouTube." expand=1]GIF from Daily Signal/YouTube.

The Senate's bill guts the program. Full stop. If passed, it'd be the largest cut in the program's history.

5. Health care reform would "fix our broken mental health system."

"We must expand treatment programs, and reform the laws to make it easier to take preventive action to save innocent lives. Most people with mental health problems are not violent, but just need help, and these reforms will help everyone." — Trump's campaign website

The proposed cuts to Medicaid and allowing states to opt out of essential health benefits (such as coverage for mental health services) will actively make things worse.

6. Under the new bill, Trump promised that "you will be able to choose your own doctor."

"We will repeal and replace disastrous Obamacare. You will be able to choose your own doctor again." — Trump's July 21, 2016, acceptance speech at the Republican National Convention in Cleveland, Ohio

GIF from White House/YouTube.

This promise seems mostly to be a jab at President Barack Obama's claim that the Affordable Care Act would let people keep their existing doctor and insurance plans if they wanted to — something the legislation couldn't back up. It's been one of Trump's go-to lines over the years, tweeting about it 18 times and counting.

But there's one major problem with Trump's promise to restore the ability to "choose your own doctor again": It doesn't actually address this issue. Losing your insurance due to premium increases or an employer's decision to go with a different carrier is an issue that long pre-dates the ACA, as is the fact that the insurance accepted by doctors can also change at a moment's notice. The ACA didn't fix that, and neither do the House or Senate reform bills.

7. "Require price transparency from all health care providers."

"Require price transparency from all healthcare providers, especially doctors and healthcare organizations like clinics and hospitals. Individuals should be able to shop to find the best prices for procedures, exams or any other medical-related procedure." — Trump's campaign website

One thing that the ACA didn't do nearly enough is work to control health provider costs. And neither the House or Senate health care proposals do either. This isn't addressed.

8. It will be legal to purchase prescription drugs from other countries.

"Remove barriers to entry into free markets for drug providers that offer safe, reliable and cheaper products. ... Allowing consumers access to imported, safe and dependable drugs from overseas will bring more options to consumers. The reforms outlined above will lower healthcare costs for all Americans." — Trump's campaign website

On the surface, being able to reimport drugs from Canada and other countries sounds like a pretty great cost-cutting measure for consumers. There's definitely a debate over whether this would actually lower costs, but the truth is that this isn't addressed in either the House or Senate health care bills.

9. "People aren't going to be dying on the sidewalks and in the street."

"The people aren't going to be dying on the sidewalks and in the street, not if I'm president. So we'll work out a deal. We'll get them into the hospital. We'll get them in to see doctors. ... But I'm not going to allow people to die on the sidewalks in the street." — Feb. 29, 2016, episode of "Hannity"

Location aside and with 22 million more people standing to lose health care, people will die under this bill. Making it harder to pay for health care means it will be harder for people to actually get that much needed medicine, health exam, or admittance into a hospital or treatment program that could save their life.

10. "This is a repeal and replacement of Obamacare."

Both the House and Senate bills amend portions of the ACA, but they don't actually repeal the law.

Hillary Clinton ran on amending the ACA to address a number of specific issues related to the rising cost of care, the opioid crisis, premium increases, a lack of consumer choice, and more. During the campaign, Trump spoke mainly in vague platitudes about what he'd like his health care plan to be ("great," "wonderful," and so on) with very sparse specifics. One of those specifics, however, was to repeal and replace Obamacare.

This bill doesn't do that. Instead, it chips away at an existing system without offering solutions for the overwhelming majority of the country.

Photo by Mark Wilson/Getty Images.

It's not too late to do something about it.

No matter who you voted for, no matter what your political views are, this bill isn't what voters signed up for. The Senate hopes to bring the bill up for a vote sometime this week. The best thing you can do between now and then is to give your senators a call and let them know that you want them to vote no.

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Three women, three MS journeys: How multiple sclerosis looks different for everyone

Gina, Nathalie and Helga share their reactions to being diagnosed with MS and how they stay informed and positive in the face of ever-changing symptoms.

Courtesy of Sanofi

Helga, Nathalie and Gina all have MS, and their experiences show how differently the disease can manifest.

True

It’s been 155 years since neurologist Jean-Martin Charcot gave the first lecture on a mysterious progressive illness he called “multiple sclerosis.” Since then, we’ve learned a lot. We know MS causes the immune system to attack healthy tissue, including damaging the brain and spinal cord. Resulting symptoms can be debilitating and include fatigue, blurred vision, memory problems and weakness. Huge advancements in our understanding of MS and its underlying causes, as well as treatment advances, have been made in the past few decades, but MS remains a complex and unpredictable reality for the 2.8 million+ people diagnosed around the world.

Ironically, the only real constant for people living with MS is change. There’s no set pattern or standard progression of the disease, so each person’s experience is unique. Some people with MS have mild symptoms that worsen slowly but sometimes improve, while others can have severe symptoms that drastically alter their daily lives.

All people with MS share some things in common, however, such as the need to stay informed on the ever-evolving research, find various lines of support and try to remain hopeful as they continue living with the disease.

To better understand what navigating life with MS really looks like, three women shared their MS stories with us. Their journeys demonstrate how MS can look different for different people and interestingly, how the language used to talk about the disease can greatly impact how people understand their realities.

woman with horse, woman riding horseGina loves riding her horse, Benita.Courtesy of Sanofi

Gina—Hamburg, Germany (diagnosed with relapsing multiple sclerosis in 2017)

When her youngest son was 4 months old, Gina started having problems with her eye. She’d soon learn she was experiencing optic neuritis—her first symptom of MS.

“Immediately after the diagnosis, I looked up facts on MS because I didn’t know anything about it,” Gina says. “And as soon as I knew what could really happen with this disease, I actually got scared.”

As her family’s primary income provider, she worried about how MS would impact her ability to work as a writer and editor. Her family was afraid she was going to end up in a wheelchair. However, for now, Gina’s MS is managed well enough that she still works full-time and is able to be active.

“When I tell somebody that I have MS, they often don't believe me the first time because I don't fulfill any stereotypes,” she says.

Overwhelmed by negative perspectives on living with MS, Gina sought support in the online MS community, which she found to be much more positive.

“I think it’s important to use as many positive words as you can when talking about MS.” It’s important to be realistic while also conveying hope, she says. “MS is an insidious disease that can cause many bad symptoms…that can be frightening, and you can't gloss over it, either.”

To give back to the online community that helped her so much, Gina started a blog to share her story and help others trying to learn about their diagnosis.

Though she deals with fatigue and cognitive dysfunction sometimes, Gina stays active swimming, biking, riding horses and playing with her sons, who are now 11 and 6.

Cognitive dysfunction is common in MS, with over half of people affected. It can impact memory, attention, planning, and word-finding. As with many aspects of MS, some people experience mild changes, while others face more challenges.

Gina says that while there’s still a lot of education about MS needed, she feels positive about the future of MS because there’s so much research being done.

woman in wheelchair holding medal, woman rowingNathalie is an award-winning rower with multiple international titles.Courtesy of Sanofi

Nathalie — Pennes Mirabeau, France (diagnosed with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis in 2002)

Nathalie was a teenager and a competitive athlete when she noticed her first symptoms of MS, but it would take four years of “limbo” before she was diagnosed.

“Ultimately, the diagnosis was more of a relief, than a shock,” she says. “Because when you have signs and you don’t know why, it’s worse than knowing, in the end, what you have.”

However, learning more about the disease—and the realities of disease progression—scared her.

“That glimpse of the future was direct and traumatic,” she says. Her neurologist explained that the disease evolves differently for everyone, and her situation might end up being serious or very mild. So, she decided to stop comparing herself to others with MS.

She said to herself, “We’ll see what happens, and you’ll manage it bit by bit.”

By 2005, Nathalie’s MS had progressed to the point of needing a wheelchair. However, that has not dampened her competitive spirit.

Nathalie began her international rowing career in 2009 and has won multiple world titles, including two Paralympic medals—silver in London and bronze in Tokyo. Now, at 42, she still trains 11 times a week. Fatigue can be a problem, and sometimes hard workouts leave her with muscle stiffness and shaking, but she credits her ongoing sports career for helping her feel in tune with her body’s signals.

“Over the years, I’ve learned to listen to my body, letting my body guide when I need to stop and take breaks,” she says.

Nathalie explains that she used to only look backwards because of the initial shock of her diagnosis. In time, she stopped thinking about what she couldn’t do anymore and focused on her future. She now lives in the following mindset: “Even when doors close, don’t miss out on those that open.” Instead of focusing on what she can’t do, she focuses on the opportunities she still has. Right now, this includes her training for the 2024 Paralympic Games in Paris, where she will compete for another rowing medal.

“I only go forward,” she says. “Well, I try, anyway…It’s easy to say, it’s not always easy to do. But that’s what I try to do.”

woman exiting water after swimming, woman with great daneHelga's Great Dane has become a helpful and beloved companion.Courtesy of Sanofi

Helga—Johannesburg, South Africa (diagnosed with relapsing multiple sclerosis in 2010)

When Helga first started having balance issues and numbness in her feet, she chalked it up to her training as a runner. But when the numbness moved to her face, she knew something was wrong. She never guessed it was MS.

“When I was diagnosed, I felt completely overwhelmed and clueless,” Helga says. “I felt that I had nowhere near enough information. I did not know anything about the disease…I had no idea that it was going to be a process of continually monitoring and adjusting your lifestyle.”

In the beginning, Helga’s symptoms developed slowly, and she didn’t appear ill to others. She was even able to run for a few years after her diagnosis, but she couldn’t do marathons anymore, and she began to fall frequently due to balance issues and right-foot dragging. Then her cognition issues became more problematic, especially in her job as a trainer in a printing company.

“My executive function, decision-making and short-term memory were affected to the point that I was eventually medically unfit for work,” she says. She stopped working in 2017.

However, she didn’t stop living life. Even though she could no longer run, she continued to swim competitively. She got a Great Dane puppy and trained him as a service dog to help her walk. She also serves as vice chair of the patient support organization Multiple Sclerosis South Africa, and she advises others who have been diagnosed to join a patient advocacy group as soon as possible to get reliable information and meet others with MS.

Helga says she is “hopeful” about the future of MS. “I must say that I am so grateful that we have all the new medications available, because my life would not be the same if it wasn't for that,” she adds.

Part of how she manages her MS is by looking at the positives.

“If I could tell the world one thing about MS, it would be that MS is an incurable disease of the nervous system, but it's also the greatest teacher of valuing your health, family, friends, and managing change in your life,” she says. “My life is diversified in a way that I never, ever thought it would, and MS has been honestly the greatest teacher.”

Each MS journey is unique – with each person impacted experiencing different struggles, successes, and feelings as they manage this unpredictable disease. But the common thread is clear – there is a critical need for information, support, and hope. We are proud to participate in World MS Day and share these incredible stories of living life while living with MS. To learn more about MS, go to https://www.sanofi.com/why-words-really-matter-when-it-comes-to-multiple-sclerosis.

MAT-GLB-2301642-v1.0-05/2023

This article was sponsored by Sanofi. Participants were compensated when applicable.

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