Why Obamacare Should Not Be Repealed
On May 4th, the U. S. House of Representatives voted, 217-to-213, to pass a bill to repeal Obamacare. This was considered a major victory for President Trump and his fellow Republicans. They now see themselves as a step closer to reshaping what they believe is a faulty health care system. President Trump has even been quoted saying, “Yes, premiums will be coming down; yes, deductibles will be coming down, but very importantly, it is a great plan.” Although, there are various reasons that invalidates his statement.
But it is not a great plan. In fact, taking away the Affordable Care Act would affect millions negatively. If Obamacare is repealed, people will no longer be forced to carry health insurance if Obamacare is repealed. Meaning, healthy people will most likely want to opt out of paying for health insurance. This will lead to insurance companies raising their rates for sick individuals so they are profitable. Companies would certainly take advantage of their circumstances and exploit the sick to gain more profit from them. This will be allowed since individuals will no longer be protected from companies raising rates based on pre-existing health conditions.
The Affordable Care Act motivated all people to get health insurance as if you didn't, the consequence would be paying a fine that would increase over time. Due to this, according to Lenny Bernstein in “Affordable Care Act Adds 16.4 Million to Health Insurance Rolls,” just about 16 million people have gotten health insurance within the first 5 years of Obamacare. A great majority of these people were young adults. Thanks to Obamacare, people were allowed to stay under their parent’s plan until the age of 26. If Obamacare is repealed, this would no longer be possible. Instead, the age limit would decrease to 21 or even 18, leaving many without any insurance and making it very difficult to get any medical help for many. If they are able to get it at all, it will come at a high cost.
Although the bill has already passed through the House, it is very improbable of it passing through the senate. According to Thomas Kaplan and Julie Hirschfeld Davis in “House Passes G.O.P Bill to Repeal Obamacare,” Republicans in the Senate have already expressed their negligence towards certain aspects of what the House planned for the new bill. It should still be in many people’s interest for the repeal bill to not go through as there are far more pros than cons with the current Affordable Care Act.