Just one week after the general election, the U.S. Supreme Court is scheduled to hear a case on whether the Affordable Care Act will remain law.
The administration of President Donald Trump has lined up with a dozen Republican state attorneys general to dismantle the country’s healthcare policy. Those arguing in favor of the healthcare act are attorneys general from Democratic-leaning states.
This is one reason Republicans are champing at the bit to fill the seat on the high court created by the recent passing of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg.
If the president’s nominee — whom he has assured his base will be an ultra-conservative — were appointed to the bench posthaste, the ACA stands a better chance of being invalidated, robbing tens of millions of Americans of their health insurance.
It couldn’t come at a worse time.
The country is facing its gravest health crisis in modern memory with the COVID-19 pandemic. Nearly 200,000 American citizens have died from the virus with millions more suffering from its effects. Of special concern is the long-term damage to the brain, heart and lungs that some have experienced. Not too much longer, and those compromised functions will be classified as “pre-existing conditions.” Before the ACA was passed in 2010, most insurance companies refused to cover pre-existing conditions. Today, it’s the law.
To strip away that coverage now is unconscionable.
And after 10 years of “repeal and replace” promises, Republicans are no closer to putting forward a viable healthcare policy.
ON SUNDAY, Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden appealed to Republican Senators to not rush the nomination process if only to preserve the protections made possible by the Affordable Care Act.
Until we get it right, healthcare will continue to be a campaign issue. The 2020 election is no exception.
Biden and Trump are night and day in their perceptions of what healthcare in the U.S.A. should look like.
Trump’s proposal to dismantle the ACA would take with it the ACA-based Medicaid enrollment program in which 73.8 million Americans rely on.
Today, 91.5% of Americans have health insurance. Before the ACA, that number was 83%.
Is it perfect? By no means.
Even with today’s advantages, insurance remains too expensive for many Americans, and in some cases unavailable, because their states, count Kansas, have not expanded Medicaid.
Biden’s plan would negate state legislatures’ ability to deny Medicaid expansion to their poor and elderly, affecting an estimated 4.9 million adults.
He also plans to make the current program more inclusive by providing an option akin to Medicare and make it more affordable by lowering the income cap for financial assistance. For the middle class, Biden’s plan is to offer greater tax credits to apply toward health insurance premiums.
As for the president, five times this year he has promised to unveil his “Trump Healthcare Plan,” but to date it’s little more than platitudes.
