(Newswire.net — July 30, 2017) — In 2010, President Barack Obama signed the Affordable Care Act into law. Today, the Trump administration seeks to repeal it. Universal healthcare has been a hotly debated topic for many decades, and the current White House is under much pressure to find a resolution to that debate.
The United States is one of only a handful of developed countries which does not afford access to healthcare to its citizens. And while both Republican and Democratic leadership agree that a healthcare policy is critical, there has been difficulty finding a compromise.
The Affordable Care Act: An Imperfect Solution
In 2010, Americans were given options. The first of these was to sign up for healthcare by using the Marketplace, a centralized seller of insurance plans. The second option was to keep the health insurance plans they already held. The third option was to decline health coverage, and risk paying a hefty fine when April taxes were due.
The Marketplace plans were rolled out, and the difficulties began. Americans who had been previously covered by their employers were faced with inferior, more costly plans. States began to change the Medicaid and Medicare coverage of low income citizens. And those who weren’t eligible for employer-sponsored plans or Medicaid found the Marketplace plans to be too cost-prohibitive to be viable.
The Obama administration was one of the first to recognize the need for and implement a strategy to move forward in covering Americans with health insurance. Unfortunately, it was hastily implemented. The Affordable Care Act, while a step in the right direction, simply didn’t have the benefit of foresight.
The Trump Administration: Healthcare’s Next Best Hope?
Since his inauguration in January of this year, President Donald Trump has tried repeatedly to repeal the ACA. His efforts have been met with great opposition from Democratic leaders, and the ACA is still in place today.
The repeal of the Affordable Care Act was a dominant campaign topic for President Trump, and the Senate is determined to follow through. Democratic leaders, however, are of the opinion that a plan should be in place to replace the ACA. The full repeal of “Obamacare” without an alternative at the ready would leave Americans in a worse situation than they are at present.
Though the administration’s pursuit of repeal over the past several months has failed, perhaps the White House would be well suited to formulate a feasible plan to substitute. A well planned, gradual replacement of the Affordable Care Act, to be introduced and implemented responsibly, may be Americans’ best hope for universal healthcare coverage.
The Benefit of Universal Healthcare
Many Americans are in favor of universal healthcare for the most obvious reason: it would provide affordable health coverage to even the most low income of the population.
However, universal healthcare has benefits to the economy, as well. Under the Affordable Care Act, state spending on healthcare costs was cut. This would have allowed the government to reduce the federal deficit considerably over the next decade. Furthermore, consumers spent more on healthcare costs – consumers who couldn’t otherwise afford health insurance were now paying for prescription drugs and insurance premiums.
Universal healthcare is good for Americans, and it’s good for the economy. The Obama administration gave us a glimpse of how the nation could benefit from a plan like the Affordable Care Act. It’s now up to the Trump administration to formulate a plan which will last long enough for us to see that benefit.