Another GOP Assault on Healthcare: Trump And Musk's War Of Telemedicine

The MAGA movement’s obsession with cruelty has a new target: telemedicine. In a move straight out of the Republican playbook of punishing the vulnerable, the Trump administration is slashing telehealth services for millions—especially seniors, low-income patients, and people with disabilities.

Trump’s Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) just gutted Medicare’s telehealth coverage, effective April 1. Before, seniors could access vital medical care from the comfort of their homes. Now? Unless they’re in a rural clinic or a handful of select facilities, they’re out of luck. The exceptions are narrow— a few mental health services and remote check-ins for chronic conditions— leaving countless others stranded without the telehealth access they depended on.

And it gets worse. Republicans are proposing a staggering $880 billion cut to Medicaid over the next decade, threatening telemedicine access for millions of low-income Americans. The GOP’s usual scam— work requirements— would strip even more people of healthcare, as if being poor and sick is a moral failing that deserves punishment.

Who benefits? Private insurers and corporate hospital chains that profit when patients are forced into more expensive in-person visits. Who suffers? Seniors, disabled people, working-class families— anyone who doesn’t have a billionaire’s slush fund to cover medical costs.

And, of course, the response has been predictable. Progressives like Ro Khanna and public health advocates are sounding the alarm, while corporate Democrats mutter half-hearted criticisms, too timid to challenge GOP cruelty head-on. Khanna asked “What is the rationale for this, other than making life more difficult for many seniors?” Our old friend Melanie D'Arrigo, now executive director of the Campaign for New York Health, warned of the dire consequences: “Patients skipping appointments saves money, but also leads to more preventable deaths. Guess which one he care about more.” And economic policy expert Michael Linden summed it up nicely, without mincing words: “We have trillions to spend on tax breaks for the rich and corporations, but we can't afford to cover telehealth visits for seniors?”

Meanwhile, Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE)— a joke name for a joke agency— keeps pushing to erase data on healthcare outcomes, making it harder to track just how many lives their policies are destroying. This was 15 years go:

And this was from Grayson last night: “Isn’t that just what you want when you’re sick— you have to drag your rear end out of bed, out of the house, into the car and over to the doctor’s office, hoping that you don’t pass out behind the wheel, instead just looking at that round dot on the top of your computer and saying ah.’ Note that these decisions are made entirely by people who get free medical care plus house calls— the President and Members of Congress. GMAFB.”

This isn’t just about telemedicine. It’s part of the broader Republican project: strip public services to the bone, funnel money to the rich, and leave working people to fend for themselves. It’s the same playbook they used with abortion rights, environmental protections, and now, your ability to see a doctor without jumping through flaming hoops.

The Trump-GOP vision for America is clear: if you’re not rich, they want you sick, desperate, and easily exploited. The question is— will the working people who voted for Trump fight back next year and put a stop to this? It should be obvious to everyone paying any attention by now that Trump's pledges don't mean a thing... except pledges to the super-wealthy (and to Putin).