Well, it’s official. Donald Trump will be the United States of America’s 45th president. For some people, this is fantastic news and for others, it is worrisome. There are many concerns that citizens of this country have in regards to the policy changes that President-elect Trump plans to put forward. Additionally, now both the legislature and the White House will be under conservative control, which presents concerns for the more liberal-minded of the nation.
While there are massive issues regarding environmental and women’s rights, another huge, dark, terrifying cloud is looming on the horizon.
Healthcare.
Congress, as well as Donald Trump, is already taking steps to repeal and eliminate the Affordable Health Care Act (otherwise known as Obamacare).
Since President Obama penned and signed into action the ACA, the Republicans in power have been trying to bring it down and otherwise completely sully its name. But why? There are countries all over the world who have universal healthcare (our neighbors of the North being one) and their citizens are doing fine. In many cases, it seems that people do not entirely understand how Obamacare works.
First, for all my college friends who like to complain about it: you do realize that it ensures that you get to stay on your parent’s insurance until you are 26 right? Because if it didn’t, insurance companies could kick you off, which means that you’d either have to pay for a new plan which is incredibly expensive for one person while paying off college debts, food, and books, or you’d have to go insurance-less which is all fine and dandy until you actually need it. I’m grateful to be able to focus on paying off college for a few years before I have to think about that.
Secondly, Obamacare makes sure that insurance companies can’t deem you uninsurable. Before the ACA, many insurance companies considered women to be uninsurable because they had a preexisting condition. You might be asking yourself, what on earth could possibly be running rampant through the entire female population that insurance companies view them as a liability? Do I have it? Am I susceptible?
Well, if you’re a lady, then chances are, yes. Because guess what? You have
I know it’s terrifying but you’ll likely live.
Not to mention the fact that Obamacare helps people who have real, preexisting conditions. For instance, my dad has Multiple Sclerosis. It’s a neurological disorder that affects his muscles. It sucks. A great deal of people have it. Thankfully, his job provides health insurance, but if (before ACA) he had lost his job, he would have lost his insurance because no insurance company would want to insure him as his disease is very expensive. We couldn’t afford the medication that he needs 2-3 times a year. So where does this leave us? Well, that could have meant that I would lose my dad at a young age, my mom would lose her husband, and the world would lose an awesome guy because he was deemed “too expensive.” So thank you, Obamacare.
I know that there are issues with the program. There are holes that people fall through when they earn too much to be on Medicaid but earn too little to afford private insurance. For some, it’s cheaper to pay the fine than to pay for insurance. But this can be fixed. The last eight years, President Obama has literally had to fight tooth and nail to get anything, anything done.
Do you realize that Obamacare isn’t the actual name? It was a nickname given by the conservative side of Congress to sway people who disliked the president and didn’t do their own research (as evidenced by this dude).
Consider, as Trump takes office, all the amazing and incredible things the ACA has done and could do. Consider and look to other countries who have universal healthcare. Rather than tearing the program down, let's try to fix those holes.
Think big picture. Don’t be petty.
