Tribalism run amok: Now Donald Trump voters are worried he might take their Obamacare away [View all]

[DonViejo]

Rural whites should have figured out that the GOP will slash their benefits -- now they'll find out the hard way

GARY LEGUM

Sarah Kliff had a fascinating story in Vox on Tuesday about Donald Trump voters in Kentucky who are very concerned to learn that the president-elect plans to follow through on his campaign promise to repeal Obamacare. Wait, you are probably screaming right now as you wipe coffee off your computer screen, these voters didn’t think he would really repeal Obamacare?

Well, no, they apparently did not.

Kliff spent a few days in southeastern Kentucky talking to Trump voters who have been able to sign up for health insurance under Obamacare. Along the way she drops some great informational nuggets, such as that the uninsured rate in Whitley County dropped from 25 percent in 2013 to 10 percent now, and that overall Kentucky is tied with West Virginia for the largest drop in the uninsured rate among all 50 states. Such facts seem designed to drive anyone mad who wonders why rural dwellers voted “against their own interests” by pulling the lever in large numbers for the carrot-colored menace. (Trump won 82 percent of the vote in that same Whitley County.)

Seen through the eyes of the people Kliff highlights, though, voting for Trump seems almost rational. These voters all had multiple reasons for supporting the Republican candidate, some of which had to do with Obamacare and some of which did not.

There was an assumption that Trump was lying about repealing the healthcare law, because so many politicians make promises they have no intention of keeping. There was a belief that he would never get rid a program that had genuinely helped them. There was anger at the high premiums and huge deductibles of their plans and an assumption that Trump, with his business background, would figure out how to fix them. And there were those who figured a change at the top was needed to help their little strip of Kentucky, which has been battered by recession and the closing of coal mines, rebound economically.

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http://www.salon.com/2016/12/15/tribalism-run-amok-donald-trump-voters-on-obamacare-are-now-worried-that-hell-repeal-it/