Figuring out Health Care in America: 2017 Edition.
After much anticipation and general frustration, the House Republicans have unveiled their plan to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act, or Obamacare. The law, however, has received mixed reviews from both sides of the aisle. Many conservatives in the House believe that the plan to replace Obamacare is too eerily similar to it, while many Democrats believe that the programs cuts funding in the most crucial areas. A Congressional Budget Office report released Monday indicates that under the American Health Care act proposed by Speaker Paul Ryan, 24 million Americans will be left uninsured.
So how do Obamacare and Trumpcare compare to each other? Both laws eliminate the consideration of pre-existing conditions, meaning that everyone would be able to receive insurance. Trumpcare eliminates incentives for purchasing insurance that exist under Obamacare, meaning many millennials who believe that they are young and invincible will opt out of insurance. This would be fine, except the system as it stands has a high reliance on younger generations that can pay into insurance deductibles but are less likely to then take out from it. Trumpcare changes how Medicaid will be funded, shifting it from the block-grant style under Obamacare to a per-capita system. The idea is that individuals within their system will pull their own weight, an idea that is practical in theory but not in reality. Funding for Medicaid will still be on the same state level where once the necessity of the program exceeds its capacity it will become more selective with enrollees and would result in overall budget trimming for the social welfare program. The problem is that without Medicaid many citizens with lower incomes would be left uninsured.
Overall, Trumpcare is the same bureaucracy of Obamacare that House Republicans supposedly disapproved of, but instead of being more beneficial to lower income classes it benefits the wealthy. The American Health Care Act offers major tax cuts and exemptions to upper income brackets, many of whom can afford their own insurance outside of the government program. Both lawss seem to further complicate the already complex matter which is health care. Almost every major country in the world has some sort of health care program, they all differ and they all have their problems. So is Obamacare or Trumpcare the only viable option for Americans when it comes to providing insurance accessibility to all of its citizens? I would like to introduce you to an alternative option.
It is called Health Savings Accounts and it is a more free market approach to universal insurance. The premise of the idea is that individuals would place their own money, which would be on a tax-free exemption, into an account specifically for the purpose of health care. Employers would still provide coverage for high deductible situations, such as major surgeries and cancer treatment. Employers can also opt to match the amount that the individual puts in the account instead of providing check-up coverages. The account is yours, you will have complete access to it for whatever reason that you see fit. It would be able to travel across state lines, which current insurances cannot. Since the money is yours, you would be more aware of doctor prices. If you have coverage, you don’t care about prices, meaning whether a doctor charges $40 or $400 for a physical it doesn’t matter to you, but with this system you would shop around, which would allow health care prices to become more competitive.
The basic idea is health insurance is like car insurance. Your car insurance doesn’t pay for oil changes or tire rotations which are minor check-ups, you are expected to pay for those things. However, it does cover major accidents, in the same way this system would still pay for high deductible operations or treatments.
The last point I would like to make is that this system is still reliant on Medicaid for lower income individuals. I believe the one idea on health care that every party can agree on is Medicaid is an essential part of the health system that isn’t going anywhere anytime soon. However, by providing a reasonable option for more individuals to cover themselves, we would eliminate some of the stress that currently resides on the Medicaid system. This system of health care is being used by some major corporations, most notably Whole Foods.
Whether you are a Democrat or a Republican, I think we all can agree that health care is a complex issue. It is emotional topic — providing health care for those without means and yet not creating an economic issue. How can we afford this? That is a question that will continue to circulate on Capitol Hill.