Hero Trump is not

It seems to me that President Donald Trump could have been a real hero in this health-care debacle. As the Great Negotiator, he could have worked with the insurance companies to ensure that coverage would continue as it has under the Affordable Care Act, aka Obamacare, and to make a deal to keep premiums affordable.

Once the dealmaker-in-chief had accomplished that goal, he could have moved on to negotiations with the pharmaceutical companies to rein in those prices. He could have requested that the health care law be renamed Trumpcare so that his name would be on it, and he would have been able to say that he kept his promise of being sure that health insurance was available to everyone.

Instead, he failed to fully understand what the ACA provides, and he doesn’t fully comprehend the new proposal. Unfortunately, he is the worst kind of CEO: the kind who never wants to know the details but wants the credit. So, hero he is not.

This story was originally published July 21, 2017 at 7:05 PM with the headline "Hero Trump is not."