Harris drops TV ads targeting Trump on healthcare and Obamacare

WASHINGTON — Kamala Harris is launching a seven-figure health care ad campaign aimed at Donald Trump's calls to replace the Affordable Care Act with a mysterious plan he has not yet released.

The ad campaign, first reported by NBC News, aims to highlight the issue and capitalize on what polls show is a weakness for Trump. In the new 60-second spot, Trump says during his face-to-face debate with Harris that he has “concepts for a plan” to redesign the U.S. health care system.

“You don’t have a plan,” Harris tells Trump in the ad as she touts her demands to protect the ACA (or “Obamacare”) and expand the Biden-Harris policy, which expanded subsidies for purchasing health insurance and capped insulin costs for seniors at $35 per month.

Her team has argued that Trump would simply repeal the ACA, which would jeopardize insurance coverage for the estimated 50 million people covered by the 2010 law by eliminating the subsidies for purchasing insurance coverage that provide Obamacare marketplaces. Dissolves plans and repeals rules that prohibit insurers from charging sick people more.

The ad, titled “Concepts of a Plan,” will air on broadcast and cable shows in battleground states, the campaign says, and will target diverse audiences on “shows like 9-1-1, Brilliant Minds, Chicago Fire, Chicago “Med and Grey's”. Anatomy as well as networks such as Hallmark Channel and TLC during medical and health films and shows Dr. Pimple Popper and Untold Stories of the ER.”

It will also air nationally on “NBC Nightly News with Lester Holt” before Tuesday night's vice presidential debate. And the Harris campaign said it plans to release more health care-focused ads in the future.

Follow live updates on the 2024 election

The Harris campaign cited a new Gallup poll that shows that health care remains a top issue for voters — and that two-thirds of U.S. adults believe the issue is not getting enough attention in the presidential campaign was given, including the majority of Democrats, Republicans and Independents. The poll found that independents are more likely to trust Harris to improve access to health care, increase quality, reduce costs and protect Medicare.

What's notable is that about one in three independents said they didn't trust any of the candidates on these issues. Harris hopes to change that.

“As president, it depends on who you fight for. Every time Donald Trump opens his mouth and says “health care,” he makes it clear that he is only in it for himself and his wealthy friends – not for the tens of millions of seniors, Medicaid recipients and Americans with pre-existing conditions who need affordability “Care Act is a lifeline,” Harris campaign communications director Michael Tyler said via email, promising that if elected, Harris would “lower costs and protect every American’s access to health care.”

Trump changes his ACA rhetoric

Trump has continued to criticize the ACA, but recently he has toned down his rhetoric somewhat, vowing that he would only undo the law if he found a better, cheaper replacement. He said in the debate on September 10 that he would clarify what that means “in the not too distant future.”

Trump also misrepresented and downplayed his fight to repeal the ACA during his four years as president.

When asked when he would release his health care plan, Trump did not answer. It delivered a series of goals to NBC News, promising that Trump would “eliminate waste, fraud and abuse across the health care system,” ensure “that Americans get high-quality medicines at the best prices” and “always put patients first.”

Trump and his vice presidential running mate, Sen. JD Vance of Ohio, “share the core principles of using greater market choice and efficiency as tools for better, more affordable health care,” Trump campaign senior adviser Brian Hughes said in a statement.

Vance recently fueled the health care debate by creating high-risk pools for some people, an idea some conservatives have supported as a way to control high costs. Previous proposals for high-risk pools would divide healthier and sicker people into separate groups, reducing costs for the former and increasing costs for the latter unless the government spends heavily on covering higher-risk people. Democrats say the ACA is necessary to enroll healthier people and spread the risk, reducing the burden on insurers so they don't have to charge exorbitant costs to the neediest patients.

Vance spokesman William Martin said of his remarks: “Senator Vance was simply speaking about the significant improvements President Trump has made to the Affordable Care Act through his deregulatory approach, which was aimed at reducing premium costs while ensuring coverage for pre-existing conditions.” ”

Trump won the 2016 election promising to repeal the ACA, but he has struggled with the issue since then. He pushed for a repeal and replace law in 2017 that was expected to cost millions of people their insurance coverage and weaken rules protecting people with pre-existing conditions. This year, it passed the GOP-controlled House and died in the Senate. But Trump persisted, using executive actions to try to weaken the law and asking the Supreme Court to strike it down entirely in 2020.

Over time, the ACA signed by President Barack Obama overcame his disapproval and became popular with the public. Healthcare was a huge boon for Democrats in the 2018 and 2020 elections. That's according to exit polls that showed many voters prioritized health care and favored Democrats over Republicans by a wide margin.

A recent Associated Press national poll found that 50% to 30% of voters are more likely to trust Harris to take care of health care than Trump. The poll found Trump leading on other key issues, such as handling the economy and immigration.

It's a tricky issue for Trump as he seeks to attract working-class and low-income voters of all backgrounds – including Americans who may have soured on Democrats on other issues but are more likely to rely on a health care safety net – , to assemble an electorate winning coalition.

Trump campaign spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt said his “policies would reduce costs by focusing on patients rather than companies and improve the quality of care in the marketplace.”