The state of the health care system in any country is highly dependent on who is in power. Often, the state’s central figure sets the direction for developing this area. Presidential elections in the United States, regardless of their outcome, will bring significant changes in all spheres of society, including medicine, so it is useful to study both candidates’ views on current health problems. The purpose of this paper is to analyze the positions of Donald Trump and Joseph Biden on several issues related to the provision of health services in the United States.
Despite its importance and publicity, one president’s opinion does not significantly influence the process of changing any public sphere. To implement any actual programs, the president needs the government agencies’ support, for example, congressional committees. However, even with the full support of the bureaucratic system, there remains the question of the direction of these efforts, in whose favor the new programs will be implemented. The concept of these interconnections is reflected in the “iron triangle” principle that unites Congress, bureaucracy, and stakeholders and binds them with strong ties to each other. The primary meaning of this concept is the fact that bureaucratic systems, as a rule, try to strengthen their influence, thereby appealing not to the interests of ordinary people but interested persons.
Donald Trump’s current policy can be mainly related to this concept since many programs were associated not with the actual need for them, but with the desire to please someone. For example, Trump has actively opposed the Affordable Care Act, introduced by the previous president, Barack Obama. Due to his actions to cancel the ACA, related to the end of subsidies, insurers increased premiums for insurance for the population, making it more challenging to get it (Levitt, 2020). In 2017 the number of uninsured people in America increased for the first time since the ACA began (The Lancet, 2020). Thus, due to Trump’s struggle with the previous president’s program, the availability of healthcare for the common population has significantly decreased.
In turn, candidate Biden is a supporter of the ACA, and despite its shortcomings, calls for improving this system instead of going back. Biden suggests a health plan that automatically covers insurance for low-income citizens (Levitt, 2020). Besides, it is proposed that the age for enrollment in Medicare be reduced to 60 years. Thus, while Trump is actively trying to destroy the reform initiated by Obama, returning to the old system, Biden proposes to move on and voices concrete steps that should make medicine more accessible to vulnerable segments of the population.
One aspect of medicine is drug use, which can be problematic in the presence of severe medical conditions. In America, there is a problem of too high prices for drugs of a specific category. President Trump has repeatedly emphasized in his speeches the need to solve this problem; however, he has put forward very few real politicians (Levitt, 2020). Although worthy programs were put forward, such as allowing patients to import drugs or price caps on specific groups of drugs, they were not implemented during his policy.
With regard to this issue, the basis of Biden’s policy is the transfer of several powers to the federal government for a more optimal solution to problems. Thus, it is proposed to allow the government to negotiate the optimal drug prices for Medicare (Levitt, 2020). Besides, Biden actively supports the ideas previously expressed by Trump, for example, permission to import drugs from other countries. Both candidates’ opinions agree on this issue since there are not many alternative solutions to the existing problem.
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Finally, another important topic in the current global context is the attitude towards the unfolding COVID-19 pandemic, as well as plans to prevent the spread of this disease further. President Trump has been actively involved in the fight against coronavirus; however, it is quite problematic to identify a specific political course. Despite the signing of several primary legislation to provide economic assistance and the fight against COVID-19, America continues to be at the top of the countries with the highest mortality and morbidity (Levitt, 2020). The reason for this is precisely the lack of a clear political course and action plan in this situation. For the most part, despite the occasional signing of laws, President Trump downplays the pandemic’s severity. Among his calls, for example, is the proposal to open schools, despite the spread of the disease. Trump largely shifted responsibilities to states, forcing each region to deal with the problem independently, which only complicated the situation. Finally, a withdrawal from the World Health Organization was made, also undermining America’s ability to respond to the coronavirus.
Given the chaotic nature of Trump’s decisions, it is not surprising that Biden’s program in this direction is characterized, first of all, by error correction. The presidential candidate is calling for a return to WHO, placing primary responsibility for the pandemic back on the federal government, lifting the states’ burden. Besides, Biden has several of his proposals to increase support for scientists and public health leaders and conduct expanded tests. The candidate proposes to eliminate the personal costs of treating COVID-19, mainly because the state is partly to blame for the spread of the epidemic. Hence, Biden’s course on the pandemic is to support the population and correct the previous administration’s chaotic decisions.
Thus, Donald Trump and Joseph Biden, for the most part, have differing views on the health situation, which can be partially explained by their political positions. In many cases, Biden seeks to implement many concrete proposals, either correcting Trump’s mistakes or filling in his policies’ blank spots. However, there are topics where the two politicians’ views agree, for example, regarding the situation with drug distribution policy.
References
Lancet, T. (2020). Trump versus Biden: a fight for the health of a nation. Lancet (London, England), 396(10250), 513. Web.
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Levitt, L. (2020). Trump vs Biden on health care. Jama, 324(14), 1384-1385. Web.