Republicans dismantle the Affordable Care Act
Monday, Jan 23, Republican Senators Bill Cassidy and Susan Collins proposed The Patient Freedom Act (PFA). If passed, the bill will repeal Title I of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), otherwise known as Obamacare.
The Senate passed the ACA on Dec. 24, 2009, by a 60 to 39 vote. Former President Obama signed the ACA into law on March 23, 2010. After seven years of ACA, the new administration under President Trump is waiting for a 60-person vote to pass the recall, which will replace the ACA. Republicans are 8 votes shy of the 60 needed to stop a filibuster. The repeal of the ACA and the confusion about what it’s replacement will be is causing concerns and uncertainty in the healthcare market.
“We have had uncertainty since the Obamacare,” said Raymond Joseph Khoury, program director and faculty chair for UHCL’s Healthcare Administration Department. “Healthcare continues to change and we will continue to adjust to provide care for people. We do not have the magic formula; nobody does.”
The proposed PFA repeals federal mandates such as the individual mandate, the employer mandate, the age band requirements and the benefit mandates. Proponents of the new bill support its position that legal residents of the United States not receiving health insurance would not be penalized for refusing to pay for insurance coverage they are unable to afford. The opponents of the PFA plan are worried about the ban on denying coverage or charging higher premiums of people with pre-existing health conditions.
Under the current ACA healthcare policy there is a tax penalty for not having insurance coverage. People who did not have health insurance in 2016 are required to pay a fine. The fee for not having health insurance for 2016-2017 is calculated in two different ways: as a percentage of household income or per person.
PFA will keep a few things from the ACA. The repeal will allow young adults to stay on their parents plan until the age of 26. Mental health and substance abuse must be covered. It also keeps essential consumer protection including: prohibitions of pre-existing condition exclusions, prohibitions on discrimination and prohibitions on annual and life-time limits.
GOP senators propose handing the federal funding that has been used for ACA, Medicaid and Medicare to the states. This would allow states to use the federal funding in ways they seem fit. Part of the law, even if repealed, will not affect Texas. Texas did not offer expanded Medicaid coverage during the Obama administration.
“Texas is the uninsured capital of the United States. More than 4.3 million Texans, including 623,000 children, lack health insurance,” The Texas Medical Association states on its website.
In a Jan. 19 interview by Fox Business Anchor Stuart Varney, Texas Governor Greg Abbott supports the repeal of ACA and moving forward with new health plans.
“We are going to restore the doctor-patient relationship,” Abbott said during the interview.
Another PFA supporter, GOP Paul Ryan, speaker of the House of Representatives, has opposed Obamacare from the beginning.
“This law is hurting people right now. We need to deliver relief to Americans hurting under #Obamacare,” Ryan tweeted Jan. 5.
Not everyone is excited about the dismantling of ACA. Louise Norris, writer and contributor for The Colorado Health Insurance Insider, has been writing about health insurance and healthcare since 2006.
“We’ve come a long way, but some of the proposals in Congress would take us back to where we were a decade ago,” Norris said. “The ACA is not perfect, but instead of throwing the baby out with the bathwater, it would make more sense to fix what’s broken and keep what works.”
If the repeal is passed, Americans who are currently enrolled with ACA will not lose coverage immediately. Senior advisor to President Trump, Kellyanne Conway confirms that even after Obamacare is repealed and replaced with a different healthcare, people will not be without healthcare.
“For 2017, people almost certainly don’t need to worry,” Norris said. “If they enroll by Jan. 31, their coverage will be locked in for the year (if they continue to pay their premiums). There are still some concerns about what’s going to happen with House v. Burwell because if the cost-sharing subsidies are cut off, carriers can basically just pull those plans. But House Republicans asked for a stay in the case and have indicated that they’ll continue to fund the cost-sharing subsidies in effort to prevent a market collapse.”
Angela Jordy, sociology major, is a single mom with two children. She is worried about her family’s future when it comes to having healthcare coverage and managing her finances.
“When I graduate, my biggest fear is getting off of welfare, paying bills from work, paying off student loans, while trying to get a new vehicle,” Jordy said.
Regina Pickett, RN, MSN director of health services and family health specialist at UHCL, recommends that students check into healthcare plans geared specifically towards students.
“One of the many benefits of purchasing a student health insurance plan is that they are offered at affordable prices and are designed to fulfill the needs of each student’s situation,” Pickett said. “No matter if the Obamacare (ACA) is replaced, our UHCL Student Health Insurance is more than adequate. UHCL makes Student Health Insurance a priority and will always seek the best coverage for our students!”
