The Affordable Care Act has established itself as one of the pillars of the healthcare system of the United States for a long time. Since its introduction, the ACA has had a direct positive impact on health insurance coverage in this country. From one perspective, it improved the access to coverage through Medicaid expansion. In addition, the ACA “upgraded the quality and scope of coverage by improving benefit design, including implementing the essential health benefits” (Willison & Singer, 2017, p. 1225). The core of the ACA is highly beneficial for the country and its residents, but its often remains the subject of debates. For example, Willison and Singer (2017) refer to the Republicans’ attempts to replace the ACA in its current state in favor of an alternative paradigm. These reforms target the essential health benefits that are at the core of the ACA. These ideas are also in line with the President Trump Administration’s position on cross-state insurance sales. Such an approach to the essential health benefits appears to reflect an attempt to boost the sales of health insurance and medical service revenues by limiting the current access to insurance coverage provided by Obamacare and Medicaid expansion.
Evidently, the attempts to repeal the ACA were bound to attract a considerable degree of criticism. The proposal of the American Health Care Act, designed to replace the ACA, was taken into consideration by Congress in 2017. However, the new plan did not see the legislators’ accord, as it drew a line between conservative and progressive members of the Republican party (Willison & Singer, 2017). As a result, the attempt to repeal and replace the ACA was not accepted by Congress (AAPF, n.d.). According to Nadash et al. (2018), had such efforts been successful, they would have put older adults in the United States in a vulnerable position because of the essential health benefits repeal. Such a situation would likely benefit the most privileged social groups who would see greater opportunities within the healthcare framework. At the same time, it would instil further disparities for others, undermining the efforts made in recent decades.
References
American Academy of Family Physicians. (n.d.) ACA repeal/replace. AAPF. Web.
Nadash, P., Miller, E. A., Jones, D. K., Gusmano, M. K., & Rosenbaum, S. (2018). A series of unfortunate events: implications of Republican efforts to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act For older adults. Journal of Aging & Social Policy, 30(3-4), 259-281.
Willison, C. E., & Singer, P. M. (2017). Repealing the Affordable Care Act Essential Health Benefits: Threats and obstacles. American Journal of Public Health, 107(8), 1225–1226.