Obamacare vs. Trumpcare: The Verdict
The repealing of Obamacare would be detrimental to 52,000,000 Americans
By Joey Derrico
The Progressive Teen Staff Writer
THE FIGHT OVER THE DIRECTION OF AMERICA’S HEALTHCARE SYSTEM has been debated ferociously during the 2016 campaign season and particularly in the past couple of weeks. The current healthcare system, known as the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare), is at the center of discussion with Democrats — and six Republicans — vouching for its continuation. In 2010, the year Obamacare was passed, angry constituents brought their frustration to elected officials, similar to what is occurring now. It turns out that Obamacare has accomplished miraculous things. But now, Republicans are looking to terminate all the progress that has been made by imposing a new piece of legislation called the American Health Care Act. The two bills share relatively few similarities and the differences are profound.
Ever since Obama’s landmark healthcare legislation passed on March 23, 2010, Republicans have vowed to establish a replacement. “Repeal and replace” has become a battle cry for the conservative base for close to the last decade. Republicans have had seven years and a majority in Congress to establish a replacement. In fact, House Republicans have voted more than fifty times to repeal or dismantle the ACA, with each attempt being unsuccessful. However, reality has caught up with the GOP. Healthcare is an extremely complex system that requires great attention to detail as well as sacrifice.
Obamacare is a 2,700 page bill that has the goal of “improving the quality, access, and affordability of healthcare and health insurance.” Before getting into the specifics of Obamacare, a few of its general provisions and benefits should be noted.
Firstly, the ACA is not a form of health insurance; rather, it regulates the health insurance industry to increase the opportunity for affordable and quality healthcare. Those who had health insurance before the establishment of Obamacare can keep their coverage and individuals under the age of 26 can remain on their parents’ plan. If someone does not have coverage, that person can either acquire health insurance through the Health Insurance Marketplace or during each year’s open enrollment period.
Secondly, Obamacare guarantees that individuals with pre-existing conditions cannot be denied coverage or charged a different rate, and those who are sick cannot be dropped by their insurance company. Lifetime and annual caps have been abolished completely. Patients are now less likely to skip needed treatments and checkups because the cost is lower. The number of people uninsured has decreased by 20,000,000 since Obamacare’s creation while the accessibility to primary and specialty care has increased. The uninsured rate has dropped from 15.7% in 2010 to 8.6% in 2016. The ACA has even reduced the deficit and debt through “cost-controlling provisions” such as taxes. According to Harvard University, “the ACA is saving tens of thousands of lives each year.”
Obamacare is structured around four key components: employer-based coverage, Medicaid, the individual marketplace, and taxes.
Around half of all Americans receive health care insurance through their employer. Insurers must provide employees with a wide variety of coverage outside of primary care, including vision care, mental health care, dental care, and most importantly, preventative care. If a company does not choose to provide insurance to employees, tax penalties are imposed while tax credits are allocated to companies that do choose to provide health care insurance to employees.
Medicare and Medicaid are two significant components of the healthcare system that are independent of Obamacare. Medicare is health insurance offered to seniors who are 65 or older and also to individuals under this age with certain disabilities. Medicare is an entitlement program which means its costs were covered from deductions in a person’s wage throughout their career. Medicaid, on the other hand, is a public assistance program based on economic needs. All levels of government― local, state, and federal― pay the medical bills of those who qualify financially through money collected from taxes. Outside of qualifying financially, an individual can also acquire Medicaid by being pregnant, the parent of a minor, or a teenager living independently. Obama drastically expanded Medicaid in participating states, especially to those living near the poverty line. This increase in Medicaid was the most successful in reducing the number of uninsured.
Those who do not get insurance through an employer or Medicaid must turn to the individual health insurance marketplace. About 10% of Americans receive health insurance in this manner. Furthermore, 9.2 million Americans received health insurance through the marketplace in a process called the federal exchange, which is basically another name for online marketplaces for insurance plans. Before the creation of the A.C.A., those in the individual marketplace were the most vulnerable to the system but now online plans are priced without regard to health history but rather based on income.
Taxes are another part of Obamacare that are required to keep the system running smoothly, maintain consistent enrollment, and keep premiums low. The Affordable Care Act has increased taxes for high-income individuals and businesses in order to execute the goals previously listed as well as advance reform. Without taxes, the whole healthcare system would be impossible. Unfortunately, Republicans wish to give large tax breaks, potentially costing certain individuals coverage.
First and foremost, the American Health Care Act would cause 52,000,000 people to become uninsured by 2026 compared to 28,000,000 under Obamacare, as estimated by the Congressional Budget Office, or CBO for short. Trumpcare is expected to cut the deficit by $337 billion over the next decade as well as allow consumers to buy insurance over state lines, a provision not included in Obamacare. Many crucial cuts are expected if this piece of legislation is passed. Funding to Planned Parenthood, Medicaid expansion, and scientific research are all areas expected to be affected.
Trumpcare will also completely freeze Medicaid expansion and get rid of the mandate for employers to provide coverage to employees. Freezing of Medicaid will cause less low-income Americans to be insured. The plan takes away the majority of taxes on high-income individual and industry while taxes on middle class Americans will be increased.
Bottom line, Trumpcare gives breaks to the wealthy at the expense of the poor.
According to the CBO, a sixty five year old making $27,000 a year would pay $15,000 for coverage. The CBO also goes onto estimate that over the next decade, insurance premiums could rise by 750% under the GOP bill, an ironic twist considering one of Trump’s most prominent arguments against Obamacare was high premiums. Obamacare premiums, in comparison, rose at a rate lower than the national average under the legislation before its existence.
The two bills are two conspicuously different versions of how healthcare should operate in America. The future of both bills is at stake this Thursday when the House of Representatives votes on the replacement for Obamacare, a vote that is expected by multiple news agencies to fail in overturning the Affordable Care Act.
