Critical Care Doc Says Trump Should Stop Trying To Kill Obamacare In The Middle Of A Pandemic

A pulmonary and critical care physician at Tulane Medical Center said if it were up to him, he wouldn’t be pursuing a lawsuit to dismantle the Affordable Care Act in the middle of a health crisis, as the Trump administration is doing.

During a discussion with MSNBC’s Ari Melber, Dr. Joshua Denson said Americans need medical care now more than ever and dismantling Obamacare in the middle of a pandemic sends the wrong message.

“I think we have a lot bigger problems that we need to be tackling right now,” the doctor said. “Mixed messages I don’t think are helping.”

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The exchange:

MELBER: We’re in a year where there’s still the administration backing appeals that would effectively limit Obamacare if they won in the courts. They are still pursuing that at a time when there’s tremendous emphasis right now on trying to get more people access to doctors, whether that’s emergency care, long-term care, obviously it’s complex. Do you have any view of that? Does that type of approach look less logical in this pandemic, to try to limit Obamacare?

DR. DENSON: I think it’s tough to say if it’s less logical. I mean in my personal opinion, I probably wouldn’t. I think we have a lot bigger problems that we need to be tackling right now. I think improving access to care is a critical issue, particularly for our New Orleans population. Again again, just getting us the right gear to do the job that we need to do should be the priority and mixed messages, I don’t think are helping. That’s what we need to focus on right now.

Health coverage is more important now than it’s ever been

If anything, this pandemic has shown just how important it is for people to have access to health insurance.

In recent days, it was reported that a 17-year-old in California died of the coronavirus after he was turned away from an urgent care center for lacking adequate coverage.

Whether we’re in the middle of a pandemic or not, this should never happened in a civilized country.

Of course, none of this seems to have fazed the president or other Republicans who continue to push forward a lawsuit that would dismantle the Affordable Care Act, a law that has provided health insurance to millions of Americans.

If Donald Trump was truly listening to doctors, he would stop trying to dismantle Obamacare in the middle of a global pandemic.

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Sean Colarossi

Sean Colarossi currently resides in Cleveland, Ohio. He earned his Bachelor of Arts degree in Journalism from the University of Massachusetts Amherst and was an organizing fellow for both of President Obama’s presidential campaigns. He also worked with Planned Parenthood as an Affordable Care Act Outreach Organizer in 2014, helping northeast Ohio residents obtain health insurance coverage.