Comparison of Obamacare and Trumpcare

Obamacare, also known as the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) but often referred to as the Affordable Care Act (ACA), was signed into law by President Obama on March 23, 2010. This act has been a part of the healthcare system for the past seven years. It has contributed to making the access for health insurance to all Americans easier than ever before. Trumpcare, also known as the American Health Care Act (AHCA), was passed by the House of Representatives on May 4^th, 2017. Trumpcare is looked upon as the new upcoming healthcare plan. This research paper will discuss the advantages, disadvantages, similarities and differences of both Obamacare and Trump. This paper will also be discussing the impact Obamacare and Trumpcare has had or will have on society.

Obamacare

Obamacare is not a health insurance. The main goal of Obamacare is
to provide improvement towards the access to health insurance for United States
citizens and the quality of the healthcare system and health insurance industry.
Obamacare also expands, improves and protects the rights that belongs to
patients. Before this law was signed, nearly fifty million people in America
did not have health insurance due to being unable to pay the high prices that
were required. Once the law was signed, it was reported that the amount of
people who did not have coverage improved quite significantly. According to a
Gallup survey, it was reported that the uninsured rate in American had dropped
to eleven percent as of the first quarter of 2016, which is the lowest it has
ever been throughout the last eight years (Health Network Group, 2016). This
act was known to have the biggest middle-class tax cut for health care in
American history. Obamacare was able to provide coverage and save billions of
dollars for the nation’s poorest, low-income seniors, disabled citizens and
small businesses.

Advantages and Disadvantages of Obamacare

Obamacare implements benefits, rights and protection for all Americans which improves the quality of health insurance. Although it does not provide free health insurance, this act was able to give everyone the same opportunity to purchase health insurance. Men and women were charged the same rates for the same services which means there was no inequality based on gender, income or health status. The prices being offered were at a low-cost and affordable rate even for the people who are currently at or below the poverty line (Zurcher, 2017). This act guarantees that insurers and businesses cannot mistreat their customers/workers because they are entitled to having protected rights. Insurers have a limit on how much they are allowed to spend on administrative overhead and patients would receive a prorated refund if the company spends an excessive amount on executive cost. They would be held responsible for their actions and spending which gives patients more rights. Physicians are also being held accountable for the quality of care that they give to their patients which ensures better and more attentive care (Health Network Group, 2016).

Each health insurance plan that was offered had to be able to cover
ten essential benefits which includes mental healthcare, maternity care and
prescription medication. The cost for prescription medication were reduced so
that people could afford the necessary medication they needed. Obamacare
provides multiple benefits for all types of individuals. For example, people
with pre-existing conditions could not be denied access to health insurance
coverage. As long as you are protected under this act, insurers will not be
allowed to drop you without notice or without reason (Moscovitz, 2017).

Furthermore, adult children are given the chance to remain covered
by their parent’s policy until they reach the age of twenty-six and overpriced
healthcare information decreased because of centralized data centers. Insurance
companies cannot deny someone from coverage once they become sick therefore
they must provide coverage for sick people. Unfortunately, this results in
increasing the cost of everyone’s insurance (Kasier, H. 2017).

Obamacare Saved My Life

A republican cancer survivor named Jeff Genes was completely opposed to Obamacare because he was unable to fully understand it. At the age of forty-nine, he was given six weeks to live with a curable type of cancer. He had pre-existing conditions which caused him to rely on Obamacare in order to purchase his own insurance. The traumatic experience of being put in a situation between life and death changed his perspective on Obamacare. He came to understand the importance and benefits from this act once he had realized he actually needed it. Jeff stated that if it were not for Obama and his Affordable Care Act, he would have been dead. There are many citizens who can relate to Jeff Gene’s story because without this act they would not have been able to deal with and overcome their health problems (Ryan, 2017).

Trumpcare

Trumpcare can be defined as a health care reform under Donald Trump.
Trumpcare’s plan is to repeal and replace aspects of the Patient Protection and
Affordable Care Act (PPACA). Trump and Republicans in Congress stated that they
would repeal Obamacare within the first hundred days that Trump is in office. The
progress being made within the process of repeal shows action behind their
statement (Alexander, 2017). The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act
still remains as the law until the American Health Care Act is passed by the
Senate and gets signed by current President Donald Trump. Although Obamacare
has not been completely repealed under TrumpCare, there are some notable
changes.

Advantages and Disadvantages of Trumpcare

Trumpcare will be able to reduce costs for those who are not priced out of the market. This means large employers and those who do not rely on assistance could receive cheaper plans. Although money will be saved by cutting eight hundred and eighty billion from Medicaid and many of Obamacare’s taxes, millions will lose their plans. If and when a full repeal of Obamacare is passed, about twenty million or more people who are covered by Obamacare are in danger of losing their coverage and cost assistance this year. Fewer Americans will have access to health care coverage because of higher cost of health insurance and no longer having individual mandate. The fate of those who are covered by Obamacare will be determined on how much of Obamacare will be repealed and what will it be replaced with. Under Trumpcare, children between the ages of six and nineteen, in families who make between one-hundred percent to one-hundred and thirty-eight percent of poverty level, will have less access to health coverage under Trumpcare than they currently have under Obamacare (Wilts, 2017).

Similarities between Obamacare and Trumpcare

There are a few similarities between Obamacare and Trumpcare. The
ability of young adults to remain underneath their parent’s plans until they
reach the age of twenty-six will still remain in effect. Insurance companies
still would not be allowed to charge women more than men for the same health
plan. Another similarity between the two is that people with previously
diagnosed medical conditions cannot be denied insurance coverage. Under
Obamacare, no one with pre-existing conditions can be denied coverage or
charged higher insurance rates which also applies to Trumpcare. However, there
would be new requirements attached to this provision. Although pre-existing
conditions would be covered, state-based waivers can be used to exclude certain
conditions from lifetime and annual limits. Therefore, Trumpcare does not
completely eliminate the protections on pre-existing conditions but certainly
weakens it (Alexander, 2017).

Differences between Obamacare and Trumpcare

There are a few differences between Obamacare and Trumpcare. Trumpcare wants to repeal the mandates which means there is no fee for not getting coverage although the plan adds a new fee of thirty percent. This applies to those who want to reenter the marker after not having coverage for more than sixty-three days. This new fee means employers will no longer have to provide coverage to full-time employees (Zurcher, 2017).

Another difference between the two is that instead of tax credits
being offered based on income like Obamacare, they will be based on age under
Trumpcare. Trumpcare will also defund Planned Parenthood which prevents them
from accepting Medicaid and ban women from using federal tax credits to buy a
plan that covers abortion. Obamacare limited insurers to charge older Americans
only three times the cost for younger Americans. Unfortunately, under Trumpcare
insurers would be allowed to charge older Americans five times as much as
younger Americans (Moscovitz, 2017). The amount would be able to vary from
state to state. This means seniors who are not covered by Medicaid but are in
need of assistance could be held responsible for paying higher insurance
policies.

Furthermore, Obamacare goes on to assert Medicaid expansion allowed
more low-income families who earned less than one hundred and thirty-eight
percent of the poverty limit to get covered. Obamacare created both federal and
state marketplaces in order to make it easier for citizens to sigh up for
government-subsidized plans. However, Trumpcare wants to repeal the expansion funding
of Medicaid (Wilts, 2017). Under Trumpcare, states are able to fund their
Medicaid programs in per-capita or block grants. Healthcare providers will also
be at risk of losing many patients which could cause a health care provider
crisis.

Conclusion

Obamacare has improved the affordability and quality of private and public health insurance through new provisions to protect consumers, taxes, requirements, subsidies, and more. This includes insurances no longer being able to deny patients for pre-existing conditions or being allowed to drop their coverage due to their sickness, no longer being able to discriminate against gender, income or health status, free preventive treatments and other reforms. People were dying because they could not afford healthcare insurance. On the other hand, Trumpcare which was recently passed wants to repeal and reform the current healthcare program in the United States. Trumpcare reduces cost for the wealthy, healthy and young which is beneficial for them. Meanwhile, against those who are sick, poor, low-wage workers, seniors, and women will encounter many complications. It is important to keep in mind that this act has not been passed by the Senate and is still capable of going through changes. Therefore, it is possible that the plan will not pass the Senate due to different contributing factors that would develop once the decision is being determined.

Resources

• Alexander, H. (2017). Five ways Donald Trump’s healthcare plan is different from Obamacare. Retrieved from: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/03/08/difference-obamacare-trumpcare-happens-next/
• Health Network Group, LLC. (2016). ACA Information. Retrieved from: https://obamacare.net/trumpcare/
• Kasier, H. (2017). Summary of the American Health Care Act. Retrieved from: http://files.kff.org/attachment/Proposals-to-Replace-the-Affordable-Care-Act-Summary-of-the-American-Health-Care-Act
• Moscovitz, I. (2017). 11 Biggest Ways Trumpcare Will Change the U.S. Healthcare System. Retrieved from: https://www.fool.com/investing/2017/06/04/11-biggest-ways-trumpcare-will-change-the-us-healt.aspx
• Ryan, J. (2017). Lifelong Republican to Speaker Ryan: Obamacare saved my life. Retrieved from: http://www.cnn.com/2017/01/12/politics/audience-member-paul-ryan-town-hall-obamacare/index.html
• Wilts, A. (2017). Trumpcare v Obamacare: How they compare and how many people will lose insurance. Retrieved from: http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/trumpcare-obamacare-comparison-insurance-costs-premiums-deductibles-mandates-a7718771.html
• Zurcher, A. (2017). Obamacare v Republican Plan Compared. Retrieved from: http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-39810145