Don’t worry about the future of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), the Republican Party spent the last seven years working hard to come up with a new and improved plan.
Actually, Republicans have been working so hard they came up with several plans that differ as much as eating a 10-inch pizza compared to a 10-inch meat lover’s with extra cheese. Both options aren’t healthy and will leave you with feelings of regret, but one will be a little less healthy and leave you feeling a little more regret.
The major issue in the Republican Party over the ACA is not how much coverage should it provide Americans, but how much of the bill should be torn up and thrown in the trash. The current replacement of the ACA is fighting to survive in the House of Representatives and move on to the Senate.
The bill, The American Healthcare Act (AHCA), was unveiled on March 7 and promptly received criticism. But before you try to guess if Sen. Bernie Sanders or Sen. Chuck Schumer spoke out against it first, you may be surprised to learn Republicans are claiming the limelight.
Libertarians and other conservatives are saying the new bill does not go far enough in repealing some aspects of the ACA or in getting the government out of the healthcare business. Michael Cannon, a healthcare analyst at the Libertarian Cato Institute, described the Republicans’ bill as a train wreck waiting to happen, according to The Washington Post.
In the week prior to when the House is expected to vote on the bill, President Donald Trump met with several congressmen to persuade them to vote for the bill, according to The New York Times. While Trump said he convinced about six more congressmen to support it, the Libertarian House Freedom Caucus is to propose an amendment before it will show support, reported NYT.
The bill would effectively drop about 14 million Americans’ healthcare coverage in the next year, according to the Congressional Budget Office. Currently, the ACA provides insurance for about 20 million Americans, meaning the Republican plan would reduce the number insured to less than a third.
Regardless of whether the government should have a role in providing healthcare coverage, the problem is that millions of people will be left high and dry. But Americans face a greater crisis than the future of healthcare in the United States -— they face division within division.
Trump’s adversaries are vehemently opposing the new president at every turn, but the Republican Party is being separated from within. With overwhelming control of state governments and two branches of the federal government, the GOP should be producing new policy and legislation like an assembly line making chocolates before Halloween. Instead there are years of pent-up frustration Republicans had with former President Barack Obama that is now exploding onto each other.
The U.S. can hardly have united political parties, let alone a united country. Democrats don’t have to wait until the midterm elections to gather strength, as they can play Republicans off one another.
But for Americans who want government sponsored healthcare, they will probably be out of luck. Gridlock in Washington, D.C., will be replaced by sloppily constructed legislation that, as Cannon said, will be a train wreck.
College students shouldn’t hold their breath for universal healthcare, or for getting a piece of the pie from the AHCA. They will need to secure insurance through their jobs or buy it privately just like their parents did.
As of now, it looks like the new bill will allow young adults to stay on their parents’ plan until they are 26, according to The National Law Review. Whether you oppose the ACA or the AHCA, there is still a silver lining to be young.
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