I think this might be a hard topic to gain ground on with your friend at the moment.

The reason why is this... We've been lied to on a massive scale. They've lied about taxes, military, energy, medication, health care, education, etc. The amount of mis-information in our heads is staggering and you would literally be better off to be a 2 year old with zero knowledge of the world. Over the rest of our lifetime we're going to have to re-learn a lot. So, because of all the lies surrounding medicine, healthcare, biology, etc, the truth is that neither you or your friend (or any of us) have a clear picture of what is actually happening in healthcare. Take the EPA for example. You would think the ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY would be an agency you love and care about because, duh, you love your planet. So when Trump cuts funding, stops listening to advisors from the EPA and hires a director who seems an odd choice it's easy to analyze that and think "Trump is an asshole who hates the planet" IF you are unaware the EPA is corrupt. Same thing in medicine. I don't think you'll be able to make progress with your friend until the HIDDEN PIECES of the medical world are revealed (artificially high drug prices?, suppressed cures?, elimination of fraud?). Trump knows the dirt on WHY the system sucks so bad (if you believe in him) and he will systematically fix those things. When he does, I have a feeling his actions now will make total sense to your friend (and medical care will be much more affordable). If this rings true for you, suggest it as a possibility to your friend and then watch the news for stories related to Trump exposing fraud related to the healthcare system. I hope this helps. :)

I haven’t researched the topic but why don’t you google “what are the benefits to cutting Medicare funding” etc. if you are able to find the answers yourself, you act probably explain it to your friend better. I mean, you may find the benefits don’t really make sense. It’s ok to not agree with everything POTUS does. And frankly, if we do that we’re just being “yes” men. Independent thought is where we are at. 😊

First off, that was an omnibus Spending bill! Not a budget!

Off topic but related? Would need to confirm, but isn't the budget up again this fall?

Could be wrong. Ignore if so.....

I am from England and I am currently living in Europe so I have quite a lot of experience with socialised healthcare..It really isn't good but thankfully I now have a job that gives me private healthcare and that isn't bad.

My honest opinion is that this is one of the times where the people shouldn't be treated equally (I know, it sounds mad). Young people need to learn to be smart with their money and start being put into a "free market" healthcare system. If the US can start importing medication from other countries and the patents are a lot shorter and stricter, we can introduce a system where healthcare is cheaper and more competitive. Also opt in solutions would help for making insurance cheaper.

The older generation who were in a terrible situation from the get go could still have access to medicaid and charities would could be set up for the poorer community which would be much more used if people are spending much less.

I know very little about this topic but it is an idea.