President Barrack Obama will soon end his term but his legacy will remain long after he’s gone.
This week, the administration announced a huge rate hike on affordable healthcare premium in the US, and this reflects a failure to the government’s responsibility in managing the cost and access to healthcare.
Obamacare is now littered with issues that need to be fixed, including rising premiums and deductibles, slow enrollment process, and an increasing number of people pulling out of ACA marketplace. All of these issues will be the next administration’s responsibility whether to fix or replace it.
Republican Stand on Obamacare
Trump castigated Obamacare on his recent speech, He promised to ‘repeal and replace it’ than saying how he would deal with the crisis over access and cost. He does not have any health reform highlighted in his campaigns.
In his statement on Tuesday, Trump said, “My first day in office, I’m going to ask Congress to put a bill on my desk getting rid of this disastrous law and replacing it with reforms that expand choice, freedom, and affordability,”
“Hillary Clinton wants to double down on Obamacare and make it even worse. She wants to put the government totally in charge of your health care.” He added.
Meanwhile, Clinton shows a more concrete plan over the Republican candidate.
In her statement, she said “The President and I have talked about it,” Clinton told WHCQ Radio in Florida on Tuesday. “We’re going to get co-pays and premiums and deductibles down. We’re going to tackle prescription drug costs. And we can do that without ripping away the insurance that people now have.”
Clinton’s plan is to increase competition among insurance companies to improve choices for Obamacare customers. This move will improve public’s option for better health care, regulate rising drug prices, and provide tax relief for out of pocket expenses. Her campaign team committed that Clinton’s administration would tackle diseases likeAlzheimer’s, autism, drug abuse, viruses such as Zika, and to improve urban and rural health infrastructure.
Political Agenda
Hillary Clinton, former first lady and New York senator has been in the political healthcare scene for years.
Republican Congressmen who have voted 50 times to stop the law are not likely to cooperate to fix it. Even Democratic Senators who are up for re-election in 2018 may prolong the issue until the election.
On the other hand, Donald Trump is committed to repealing the individual mandate and modify the laws that prohibit the sale of health insurance. Furthermore, the laws should allow people to pay their insurance premiums from tax returns.
He will promote individual Health Savings Accounts that would allow patients’ access to imported drugs overseas. Hence, prices would go down.
Republican Rep. Chris Collins told CNN’s Wolf Blitzer last Tuesday that he thinks Trump would adopt the health care plan made by House Speaker Paul Ryan during a Republican conference.
He added, “It is my understanding that Mr. Trump has seen that plan and what he is talking about … is in fact a better way, a replacement plan.”
Obamacare hike
The White House released a statement on Monday that premiums for the benchmark plan will rise by 22% next year.
Trump thinks he can use this new issue to bring down Clinton who recently leads most polls. He told reporters last Tuesday at his golf resort in Florida, “It’s blowing up all over the country.” He is committed to replacing Obamacare with something less expensive.
The National Republican Senatorial Committee recently released a video of Katie McGinty. The Pennsylvania Democrat said Democrats should be “proud of” Obamacare.
“Is Shady Katie still proud of Obamacare?” the NRSC released asked.
Iowa Republican Party chairman Jeff Kaufmann also added, “cheers and hollers for the Obamacare disaster,” referring to Democrat Patty Judge.
Jay Carney is a former White House press secretary who spent hours defending Obamacare. He admitted that the law was not as popular as what the President expected. However, voters should give Clinton credit for trying to repair it.
Carney said on CNN’s New Day, “Is it something … that’s going to change the election? No, it’s not.”
“Remember, the opportunity Republicans had to use Obamacare against the Democrats and win the White House was in 2012. Mitt Romney, a far more credible candidate for president of the United States from the Republican Party, you know, beat us hard over the head with Obamacare.”
“And guess what,” Carney added.
“The American people re-elected President Obama.”
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