While the two presidential candidates' healthcare plans leave much to be desired, there are
significant differences between what and how much they both offer; these differences are
detrimental to the Americans uninsured and those who are having difficulty staying insured
under the current policy. For this discussion, I want to focus on the coverage of those who need
help the most. Since the American healthcare system functions majorly as a privatized system,
most individuals who seek insurance must be employed, must pay using short-term healthcare,
must use government-led insurance options if your income is low enough (ACA), or must seek
out insurance plans with high premiums for long-term and preexisting conditions. America is
unique because it lacks the universal health coverage that other industrialized countries have, and
– at this moment – that fact will, unfortunately, remain true for the next presidency. Therefore,
we must consider the healthcare option that ensures more people will have access to healthcare.
The most beneficial healthcare plan currently is the Affordable Care Act (ACA). Since the act
has been implemented, the country has experienced a “…historic decrease in the number of
uninsured people…with nearly 20 million gaining coverage” (Tolbert, Oregra, Singer, &
Damico, 2019). It would seem that the most essential strategy to improve healthcare is to build
upon this system. Nonetheless, the current president has been pushing to repeal and overturn the
ACA since he arrived in office. This would not be as much of a horrendous oversight to the
benefits of ACA if the plan were replaced with something more beneficial. However, the
president has chosen to weaken aspects of the act without replacing it, causing more Americans
to be uninsured in 2019 than in 2018 (Bernstein, 2020). Unfortunately, the figure for 2020 would
not be appropriate, as the pandemic has caused more people to lose their jobs and related
employer coverage. However, in 2020, the president did change the poverty line for an ACA
Medicaid expansion, causing millions to lose their eligibility. He also gave states the right to
impose premiums onto those below the poverty line, along with a myriad of other actions that
deal with inhibiting the access to healthcare for those who need it the most (“Trump
Administration’s Harmful Changes to Medicaid,” 2020).
Taking away the most beneficial aspects of ACA is not the correct position to take. With the
president’s track record of repeatedly making government insurance more difficult to achieve, it
seems he does not care. The most prominent argument against the ACA that most opposing
Americans have is that it gives the government too much control. The purpose of the ACA is to
provide the people with more control over their options for health coverage; there is no other
way to ensure that everyone will be covered unless the federal government makes a mandate.
Private insurance companies will never lower the cost of insurance even when demand is so high
because their focus is primarily on profit (Their treatment of prescription costs demonstrates this,
and how the prices have been increasing despite the stagnation of wages). Furthermore,
Medicare – a government-led program – has been popular among the public despite party lines.
This argument stems from Republicans’ fear of the government, even when that government
follows their political disposition. It does not help that 60% of Republicans learn about the ACA
through TV, leading to fearmongering about the federal government’s oversight (Dalen,
Waterbrook, & Alpert, 2015). In conclusion, healthcare is detrimental to Americans' welfare, and
voting for the candidate who has shown to improve conditions and not worsen them is suggested.
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Works Cited
References
Bernstein, J. (2020, September 22). Thanks to Trump’s actions, millions lose health coverage. Retrieved
from Washington Post website: https://www.washingtonpost.com/outlook/2020/09/22/thankstrumps-actions-millions-lose-health-coverage/
Dalen, J. E., Waterbrook, K., & Alpert, J. S. (2015). Why do so Many Americans Oppose the Affordable
Care Act? The American Journal of Medicine, 128(8), 807–810.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.amjmed.2015.01.032
Tolbert, J., Oregra, K., Singer, N., & Damico, A. (2019, December 13). Key Facts about the Uninsured
Population. Retrieved from KFF website: https://www.kff.org/uninsured/issue-brief/key-factsabout-the-uninsured-population/
Trump Administration’s Harmful Changes to Medicaid. (2020, February 4). Retrieved from Center on
Budget and Policy Priorities website: https://www.cbpp.org/research/health/trumpadministrations-harmful-changes-to-medicaid