It wasn’t the part of her closing message that generated the most headlines, but in her remarks at the Ellipse, Vice President Kamala Harris took some time to talk about health care policy.
“[Y]ou will pay even more if Donald Trump finally gets his way and repeals the Affordable Care Act, which will throw tens of millions of Americans off their health insurance, and take us back to when insurance companies had the power to deny people with pre-existing conditions,” the Democratic candidate said. “Well, we are not going back.”
These were not scare tactics. Rather, this was a final week wake-up call to voters who care about health security: This issue is on the ballot whether it’s dominating the public conversation or not. NBC News reported:
House Speaker Mike Johnson took a dig at Obamacare at an event in Pennsylvania on Monday, telling a crowd there would be “massive” health care changes in America if Donald Trump wins the election. “Health care reform’s going to be a big part of the agenda. When I say we’re going to have a very aggressive first 100 days agenda, we got a lot of things still on the table,” Johnson, R-La., said in Bethlehem as he campaigned for GOP House candidate Ryan Mackenzie, according to video obtained by NBC News.
When an attendee asked, “No Obamacare?” Congress’ top Republican leader replied, “No Obamacare.” Johnson added that he wants to see “massive” reforms to the existing system.
Mike Johnson says one of Trump’s top priorities will be to repeal the Affordable Care Act and rip away health care from tens of millions of Americans: “No Obamacare” pic.twitter.com/ZOquqx2sFE
— Kamala HQ (@KamalaHQ) October 30, 2024
When it comes to GOP leaders, the House speaker isn’t alone. Donald Trump, for example, declared at the recent presidential debate that he has “concepts of a plan” that would replace the nation’s existing health care system.
Around the same time, his running mate, Republican Sen. JD Vance of Ohio, shared new details about his plans to weaken protections for Americans with pre-existing conditions — which came on the heels of the senator leaving ACA repeal on the table in a possible second term for Trump.
As regular readers know, Trump has also spent much of the last year repeatedly targeting the Affordable Care Act in increasingly explicit terms, and as recently as December, the Republican nominee posted a video to his social media platform attacking the late Sen. John McCain for not helping him “terminate” the ACA in 2017.
What’s more, Axios published a report last fall noting that Republican Sen. Mike Crapo of Idaho, who’d likely chair the Senate Finance Committee if the GOP retakes control of the chamber, also said he’s open to repeal-and-replace plans.
I’m mindful of the broader election season conversation and the degree to which health care has not enjoyed the national spotlight, at least not on par with the economy and border security. But in the cycle’s closing days, it’s not too late to add this to the national discussion.
A recent national Gallup poll found two-thirds of Americans said health care needed to be discussed more as part of this year’s elections. Surprisingly, the results weren’t altogether partisan: A majority of Democrats, Republicans and independent voters all agreed that health care hasn’t gotten enough attention.
With this in mind, the House speaker has given the political world a timely excuse to focus on an issue voters want to hear more about.
This post updates our related earlier coverage.








