Abortion dominant, but health sidelined: the road to Trump’s win

Abstract

Donald Trump is the new US president after an ill tempered campaign that saw abortion dominate on the Democratic side but healthcare a minor part of the overall election discourse. Joanne Silberner reports on the medical issues that were debated—and what this may bode for the new president’s agenda The route to the US presidency this election season was a wild ride, marked by a relatively last minute change of candidates on the Democratic side, from incumbent president Joe Biden to his deputy Kamala Harris, and disinformation, misdirection, and odd statements by former president—now president elect—Donald Trump, the Republican candidate. Three weeks before voting day, Drew Altman, chief executive of the health policy research foundation KFF, wrote that this was not a “healthcare election.”1 Indeed, throughout the months long campaigning the only health topic that made it into the top tier for the presidential candidates was reproductive rights. Beyond that, the high price of prescription drugs and the limits of the health insurance system got occasional mentions. The candidates made some promises about reform of Medicare, the healthcare insurance scheme for over 65s and disabled people. And only the Democrats talked about Medicaid, the major scheme for people on low incomes. However, as Altman noted, healthcare costs formed a big part of the US public’s worries about the economy. And a Harvard Youth Poll of 18 to 29 year olds done in March found that healthcare was a key issue for them, rating higher than inflation, housing, gun violence, and jobs.2 Trump announced his plan to run again for the presidency in November 2022. His hour long speech mentioned healthcare once, in promising to “systematically” bring it back to “the American middle class and to America itself.” By July 2024, at the Republican National Convention, where Trump became …