by PWeekly | Nov 15, 2016
Following the election of Donald Trump as the next U.S. president, Physician’s Weekly Managing Editor Christopher Cole received the opportunity to ask select physicians and healthcare experts what a Trump presidency could mean for the U.S. healthcare system. Speaking with Cole were Pawan Grover, MD, an interventional spine specialist and patient advocate who has served as a medical correspondent for CNN, NBC, CBS, and PBS; Mache Seibel, MD, author of The Estrogen Window, former and soon-to-again-be Harvard Medical School faculty member; Carolyn Rosenblatt, RN, elder law attorney and co-author of The Family Guide to Aging Parents: Answers to Your Legal, Financial, and Healthcare Questions; and Chris Orestis, CEO of Life Care Funding, former Washington, DC, lobbyist, senior-care advocate, and author of Help on the Way and A Survival Guide to Aging. What do you think will happen to “Obamacare”? Trump has said he’ll put an end to it, but information is lacking on what, if anything, he’d replace it with. Mache Seibel (MS): If President-Elect Trump wants to make America great again, he will have to make America healthy again. And that requires healthcare coverage for as many U.S. citizens as possible. With rampant obesity, diabetes, and other chronic illnesses, a great deal of prevention needs to be put into play. Obamacare took 2-3 years to implement. For these reasons, I believe that with 22 million people currently depending on Obamacare, the new administration is less likely to abolish it than to modify it. There are many areas that could be addressed, and which of those President-Elect Trump will address will depend on his closer look at the...
