If you haven’t heard already, Donald Trump promised everyone that one of the first things he will do once elected is to repeal the Affordable Care Act, AKA Obamacare. Many Republicans are optimistic about this plan since the majority of them opposed the act while Obama was president.
This troubling reality for healthcare is now a fact. Trump states he will follow through on the promises made throughout the election, but will it happen?
Looking at the results of the election, it is entirely possible. One huge factor that makes this so likely is that both the Senate and House are republican. In other words, it wouldn’t take much effort on Trump’s part to get Congress on board with his plans for the administration.
Now, Americans may have to deal with the undesired reality of not being insured. So what will happen?
This could mean serious repercussions for Americans, especially minorites who could not afford healthcare before the initiation of Obamacare.
If Trump were to get rid of the ACA, what will happen to the more than 20 million Americans insured under it? The idea of repealing it entirely is just going to lead to many inevitable problems.
Trump fails to see how Obamacare has changed healthcare for the better. The uninsured rate among black non-Hispanics dropped by more than 50 percent between 2013 and early 2016. Latinx dropped by more than 25 percent as well. There is still a gap in the public insurance system and limited access to private coverage. However, more people are gradually going to gain coverage if Obamacare continues at its current rate.
Tell me, Trump, why would you want to start from scratch? Yes, Obamacare has its obvious faults, no act or law is going to be perfect. You should know this. We don’t have time to be coming up with an completely new plan for healthcare.
We spent trillions of dollars on healthcare in 2014 alone and spending is expected to grow at an average rate of 5.8 percent per year. That’s a lot! In fact, healthcare spending is growing faster as Obamacare expands its coverage. Imagine Trump spending twice as much as that to create something “better” for Americans.
Consider what Trump proposes: he wants to repeal the ACA and eventually spend and lose a lot of money during the process. It’s counterproductive. We should be expanding healthcare coverage and finding ways to fix its faults, yet Trump wants to get rid of it simply since Obama signed it.
However, this is just the beginning. We don’t know what will happen to Obamacare. Knowing Trump’s capabilities it will, for sure, leave millions of Americans uninsured.
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