By Black Men In America.com (February 23, 2017)
According to the NY Times, FOX News and almost every mainstream media outlet, the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare is more popular today than it was when it passed through Congress in 2010. At that time, more Americans disliked Obamacare than liked it. Whoa! This was President Obama’s signature legislature. This was also the Republican party’s promise to their constituents–to repeal and replace Obamacare.
Obamacare was a disaster the day it was launched. The website didn’t work and many health providing partners were not fully engaged on on-board. Over the years, there is overwhelming evidence that Obamacare caused healthcare premiums to increase. As a result, Obamacare, (despite President Obama’s lies or claims to the public) began to unravel and health providers began to bail out. Premiums started to rise for many and millions of people could not keep their doctor or see a reduction in the cost of their premiums as President Obama promised. According to the nonpartisan Kaiser Family Foundation, the average deductible — the annual amount patients pay before insurance kicks in — went from $533 to $1,221, an increase of nearly 130 percent.
The best two aspects of Obamacare are as follows:
- Covering people with pre-existing conditions
- Dependent children are covered until the age of 26
“There is a shifting public focus away from what is wrong with the Affordable Care Act to a world where 21 million people could lose coverage,” said Robert Blendon, a professor of health policy and political analysis at Harvard, in an email. “The Affordable Care Act may not be more popular, but the implications of repeal are shifting people to a less negative stand on the law.”
GOP governors and senators argue Republicans must protect coverage for vulnerable Americans. Many are worried about a political backlash if millions of Americans lose health insurance. The Republicans have been exposed. They talked for years about repealing Obamacare. Now that they can do it, they don’t really have a replacement plan.
At stake is coverage not only for Americans who use insurance marketplaces created by Obamacare, but also for tens of millions more who rely on safety-net programs such as Medicaid and Medicare, which many Republicans — including several slated for senior posts in the Trump administration — have long targeted for cuts.
Some Republican politicians are starting to realize that their party must protect coverage for vulnerable Americans. Some Republicans are worried about a political backlash if millions of Americans lose health insurance.
At stake is coverage not only for Americans who use insurance marketplaces created by Obamacare, but also for tens of millions more who rely on safety-net programs such as Medicaid and Medicare, which many Republicans — including several slated for senior posts in the Trump administration — have long targeted for cuts.
What do you think? Should Obamacare be repealed and replaced? Or should it be improved? Scroll down and share your comments.
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