WATCH: Donald Trump praises Australia's single-payer health care system

While crowing about his Trumpcare victory, the president praised Australia's health care-for-all system

By Matthew Rozsa

Staff Writer

Published May 5, 2017 1:20PM (EDT)

 (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)
(AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)

Considering that some House Republicans voted for the new Trumpcare bill without even reading it, can we be surprised that President Donald Trump himself isn't up-to-date on the health care systems in other countries?

During a meeting on Thursday night with Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull, Trump began with what he probably thought was a simultaneous plug for the American Health Care Act and scathing takedown of the Affordable Care Act.

"It’s a very good bill right now. The premiums are going to come down, very substantially. The deductibles are going to come down. It’s going to be fantastic health care. Right now Obamacare is failing. We have a failing health care," Trump said.

Then he unwisely added, "I shouldn’t say this to our great gentleman and my friend from Australia, because you have better health care than we do."

What Trump most likely didn't know was that Australia has a universal health care system called Medicare, one that guarantees free access to doctors and hospitals and only requires private health insurance for services like certain dentist visits, ambulance services, and most physiotherapy.

As Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., told CNN's Anderson Cooper, "Well Mr President, you're right, in Australia and every other major country on Earth they guarantee health care to all people. They don't throw 24 million people off health insurance. So maybe when we get to the Senate we should start off with looking at the Australian health care system."

The Republican bill, in addition to throwing millions off their health care, will repeal Obamacare provisions such as those that protected individuals with preexisting conditions from discrimination.

 


By Matthew Rozsa

Matthew Rozsa is a staff writer at Salon. He received a Master's Degree in History from Rutgers-Newark in 2012 and was awarded a science journalism fellowship from the Metcalf Institute in 2022.

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