To Repeal or Not to Repeal

To+Repeal+or+Not+to+Repeal

Julia Allen (11th), Reporter

As the inauguration of President Elect Donald Trump comes barreling towards America, current President Barack Obama is taking precautions to protect his health care plan, Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, which is an aspect of Obama’s presidency that Trump has openly detested.

Within his first term as POTUS, Barack Obama implemented a health care act, widely known as ObamaCare, which endowed millions of Americans affordable health insurance and care. Since its passage in 2009, Republicans have challenged the law multiple times, declaring that it unfairly intrudes upon small businesses and citizens, by forcing business owners to buy health insurance for their workers, as well as requiring citizens to have health care. These accusations continued until the supreme court upheld it as constitutional in 2012.

Despite the numerous attempts to repeal the act, millions of Americans have benefited from ObamaCare for multiple years. As Obama’s second term comes to a close, he must prepare to hand the baton off to Republican President-elect, Donald Trump. Trump, however, already has radical plans to transform America post-Obama presidency, one of the plans being completely repealing the PPACA.

Under ‘healthcare reform’ on Donald Trump’s website, it states that, “Obamacare has raised the economic uncertainty of every single person residing in this country. As it appears Obamacare is certain to collapse of its own weight, the damage done by the Democrats and President Obama, and abetted by the Supreme Court, will be difficult to repair unless the next President and a Republican congress lead the effort to bring much-needed free market reforms to the healthcare industry.”

Also on the website, it declares that “On day one of Trump Administration we will ask congress to immediately deliver a full repeal of ObamaCare.” The segment then goes on to list some of the suggestions that would be a part of his rendition of affordable healthcare for America.

Despite telling Wall Street Journal that he is willing to keep some aspects of ObamaCare, Trump’s ideas more conflict with ObamaCare than have things in common. One of the major changes that Trump plans to make is that citizens of the US will no longer be required to have health insurance. Trump also proposes to remove barriers for buying out of state health insurance, something that Obamacare restricts.

Possibly in the first week of Trump’s presidency, a vote could be held on whether or not PPACA will be repealed. If passed, this vote would allow ObamaCare to be repealed and then discussion would begin on what to replace it with, which would have to be passed by senate as well, and could take up to two years.

Although the Senate is mainly Republican-held, who would presumably vote yes on the repeal, six Republican Senators have come forward in saying that they might not be fully on board with voting yes on the repeal without having a plan to put into effect immediately afterwards.

Lamar Alexander, Senator of Tennessee, claims that “It might not be smart to repeal ObamaCare without a replacement being ready” And another Senator, Tom Cotton of Arkansas, believes that a repeal and delay outlook on the vote would just be “Kicking the can down the road for a year or two years.”

The Senate is currently made up of fifty-two republicans, forty-six democrats, and two independents. It will take fifty-one votes in Senate to repeal the federal law, and there’s no way to predict 100% of what will happen in regards to the outcome of the vote. If the vote is tied, it will be up to Mike Pence,Trump’s VP, to break the tie.

If repealed immediately under Trump’s presidency, a lot of questions will be left unanswered to those who are insured by ObamaCare. If the vote passes, an estimated twenty million people would lose their healthcare. This includes low-income citizens and families who might not be able to get health care otherwise.

Another effect the repeal could have is that it is likely that the replacement will defund Planned Parenthood. Some women who fall into a low income bracket can say goodbye to a lot of coverage that they benefited from because of ObamaCare and Planned Parenthood. These women would no longer be able to receive free/cheap screenings for health problems commonly faced by women, as well as receiving free IUDs and other contraceptives.

Since the replacement to ObamaCare is still undetermined, should it be repealed, there’s no say in what healthcare in America will look like. Until then, dwellers of the US should keep an open-mind to new ideas that may manifest themselves in the repeal, and write their state’s Congressmen if they have any concerns.

 

Sources:

http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2017/01/republicans-may-not-have-senate-votes-to-repeal-obamacare.html

https://www.donaldjtrump.com/positions/healthcare-reform

http://www.cnn.com/2016/11/10/politics/donald-trump-republicans-obamacare/

http://obamacarefacts.com/obamacare-womens-health-services/

http://www.cnn.com/2017/01/05/politics/paul-ryan-planned-parenthood-obamacare/

http://www.refinery29.com/2017/01/134946/what-is-obamacare-can-it-be-repealed  

http://www.wsj.com/articles/donald-trump-willing-to-keep-parts-of-health-law-1478895339