Since Donald Trump returned to office in January and ignited new plans to dismantle the foundations of healthcare in the United States, many students have expressed anxiety about the future of everyday Americans who rely on government programs to help cover medical costs.
Hanna Mirzai, a 19-year-old political science major at Diablo Valley College, said, “The United States is often thought of as the greatest nation on Earth, but fails to provide basic human needs for its people.”
According to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, about 20 percent of the American population relies on aid from Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) to acquire essential medical care.
Now, in its earliest weeks in office, the Trump administration has withdrawn the U.S. from the World Health Organization (WHO), planned to do away with the Affordable Care Act (ACA, also known as Obamacare) and slash funding for government healthcare programs such as Medicaid.
Like many students of DVC, Zaara Ali, a 19-year-old psychology major, has many concerns about the administration’s recent decisions. But the highest among them is that up-and-coming healthcare professionals may lack the resources to support their practices.
“Leaving the World Health Organization and decreasing funding for medical research will limit access to global health information,” said Ali, in reference to the slashing of grants for the National Institutes of Health.
Trump’s policies leave students such as Ali, who is looking to pursue a medical degree, lost regarding the future of their industry.
“I am passionate about understanding and caring for humans in general,” said Ali. “As someone wanting to pursue that and go into the medical field, it is hard to watch the world become like this.”
After the highly publicized murder of UnitedHealthCare CEO Brian Thompson in December, working class Americans across the political spectrum expressed outrage about the poor treatment of consumers by health insurance corporations.
In the weeks that followed his assassination by the alleged gunman Luigi Mangione, people of all walks of life voiced their personal experiences with being denied claims by their insurance providers, including in many life or death situations for themselves, friends and family members.
Ali touched on her personal experiences, stating, “I have already noticed higher insurance plans and am concerned about what the future holds after such changes.”
Ali expressed anxiety that medical costs will go further on the rise — and that Medicaid itself could be on the chopping block.
“The government has the responsibility to regulate healthcare prices and keep large organizations in check,” she said.
“It needs to make sure people have access to programs such as Medicaid if they cannot afford insurance.”