Bistro and bakery co-owner Pam Watkins and MS NOW Senior White House reporter Vaughn Hillyard (YouTube Screengrab)
Residents and business owners in Mount Pocano, Penn., tell reporters that President Donlad Trump’s boasts of an “A+++ economy” are going to fall hard in the face of reality as his economic tour of Pennsylvania kicks off this week.
“You pretty much just walk into a business and you ask folks out loud, ‘what do you think of the economy,’ and they'll tell you. And it's not reflective of the economy that Donald Trump is speaking about,” said MS NOW Senior White House reporter Vaughn Hillyard.
Hillyard reported he visited a local establishment and spoke with three women who were independent of each other.
“One woman said that he's devastating the economy here in this community of 3,000, saying her mother is 74 years old and is effectively unable to find a new job, but doesn't have enough finances in order to live in retirement. She needs a hip replacement, but her health care isn't good enough to cover it, so she's not getting that hip replaced, said Hillyard. “The other woman said that she's also a local business owner. … She's forgoing getting health insurance next year because December 15th is the deadline to have insurance by January 1st. And she buys off the exchange. She said the premiums that are being offered are double what she currently pays.”
Still another woman interviewed works the local ambulance services, and she said that the number of folks that are going through the billing department that either now don't have insurance or don't have the funding and the financing to cover the ambulance services that they have used is jumping significantly.
“With all three of those women, I didn't bring up health care myself. They did when talking about the economy,” Hillyard added.
Local bistro and bakery co-owner Pam Watkins confirmed Hillyard’s report, telling MS NOW that healthcare takes up such a sizable amount of the money, the little revenue she does make from her business will now virtually evaporate.
“Our margins just keep shrinking and shrinking and shrinking,” Watkins told Hillyard.
“You've been open six years? How is this year compared?” Hillyard asked.
“This is our this is our worst year on record. [Health premiums] … were a little more than twice what they were last year,” Watkis answered, referring to Trump and Republicans’ removal of healthcare subsidies.
“Pam has a staff of ten. She says that because of the high price of raw materials for her bistro bakery and the downturn in the number of locals that are coming in and the downturn in tours over the summer and so far here this winter,” said Hillyard. “She said that she's making hardly much money here at this point, but doesn't want to lay off the staff who she cares so deeply about, not knowing what other job they turn to.”
Like Watkins, each of her employees buy their health care off of the ACA exchanges. And all are now worried where they will turn for healthcare in the aftermath of exploding insurance costs.
“And so, while Donald Trump calls this economy ‘A+++,’ and the stock market is high, Pam doesn't have any stocks. The economy here at the local level, is a different reality for a great many people,” said Hillyard.
