By skyforbes 
Throughout his campaign for president, Donald Trump assured Americans he would “do everything within [his] power not to touch Social Security, to leave it the way it is.” He made similar vows to protect other critical social programs, including Medicare. Despite these clear promises, President Trump’s recently released budget proposal for Fiscal Year 2021 does the exact opposite; demanding irreparable cuts to Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security, and the Affordable Care Act. The new Trump budget is the latest iteration of his government’s callous and short-sighted approach to health care.
Given Republicans’ repeated attacks on these vital programs and their attempts to destroy the Affordable Care Act, President Trump’s cruel budget is not surprising. Only three years ago, a newly inaugurated President Trump proposed devastating cuts to Medicaid as one of the first legislative priorities of his presidency — and one that continues to this day. Astonishingly, the Trump FY 2021 budget arrived on our doorstep just days after the administration announced a scheme to convert parts of Medicaid into block grants — which is a deceptive way of making huge cuts to the program, allowing states the ability to cut benefits and remove federal oversight. President Trump plans to do this by executive fiat — which is itself illegal — because he knows the proposal would never make it past the Democratic House.
He has also proposed chipping away at Social Security in the form of a rule that could kick people off their disability insurance. I recently joined more than 100 of my House colleagues in urging the administration to withdraw this dreadful idea.
If Congress doesn’t fight these cuts, thousands of Mainers will be impacted. Americans who have paid into Social Security and Medicare for their entire lives deserve to know it will be there when they need it. The hundreds of thousands of Mainers who rely on the protections afforded by the ACA — whether they have preexisting condition protections or were able to access Medicaid through expansions — should not face a loss of coverage because of the Trump administration’s sabotage. The continued viability of each of these programs is critical to the health of our state and nation.
This year I invited Kings Floyd, a young Mainer who has benefited from the Affordable Care Act to be my guest at President Trump’s annual State of the Union Address. As a 25-year-old, Kings depends on the Affordable Care Act to both remain on her parents’ health plan and support access to health care for her preexisting conditions associated with muscular dystrophy and epilepsy. On her parents’ plan, her prescription drug costs already exceed $200 each month, a heavy financial burden to carry. Kings rightly worries how the Trump administration’s attempts to undermine Medicaid will impact her future.
“President Trump’s decision not to defend the Affordable Care Act is a direct threat to the personhood of people with disabilities,” Kings told me. “I’m about to age off of my parents’ healthcare plan and with the ACA’s future uncertain, I have no idea if I will be able to buy coverage with my pre-existing conditions. A rollback of the ACA will not only harm my health, it could render me unable to live an independent life.”
The Affordable Care Act has been successful in providing insurance to millions of Americans and has saved lives. But that hasn’t stopped Republicans from repeatedly trying to repeal it — more than 70 times since its passage in 2010. Thanks to tireless grassroots advocacy, the key pieces of the law remain intact In fact, even though the Supreme Court has upheld the constitutionality of the ACA, President Trump is right this minute pursuing a federal lawsuit, Texas v. United States, to dismantle the entire law. He and Republicans have cynically asked the Supreme Court to delay a ruling on this litigation until after the 2020 election. This may temporarily shield them from the consequences of their actions, but the stakes are obvious. If they are able to invalidate the Affordable Care Act, 82 million Americans with preexisting conditions, including Mainers like Kings, would lose the protections they now rely on. We can’t let this stand.
In Congress, know that I am working every day with my House colleagues to safeguard Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid from the Trump administration’s cuts and to preserve these programs for the future.