On Wednesday, October 19th, in the final Presidential debate, Donald Trump repeated his “disaster” narrative to describe the Affordable Care Act (ACA). In the final debate, Trump falsely cited to premium increases going up over 100% and ignores availability of tax subsidies to offset those premiums. Circling back to the second debate, the Huffington Post noted another correction to a statement on the ACA made by Trump during the previous debate.
In a Huffington Post article titled “Trump Distorted What’s Going On With Obamacare (As Usual),” HuffPo dissected Trump’s claim that the ACA is a “disaster.” While Trump focused on elevated premiums, which is factual, there is no correlation to the actual cost of healthcare that is offered by employers, primarily ALEs.
Further, as HuffPo states, “The Affordable Care Act reduced the uninsured rate to the lowest it’s ever been recorded and eliminated some of the health insurance industry’s worst practices, like refusing to cover people with pre-existing conditions.” While rates are scheduled to rise in the coming year, they will be nominal for many, and some may see a decrease. The numbers are all relative, and for those who utilize the Health Insurance Marketplace, tax subsidies are often provided to alleviate some of those costs.
The article also provides the reminder that if Donald Trump takes office in 2017 and repeals the ACA, 19.7 million people will lose health care, Medicaid funding will be cut, and state-to-state offerings of healthcare will lose competition should major providers be allowed to cross state lines in offering coverage.
While Hillary Clinton’s plan to improve the ACA with further tax credits in the interest of discounting excessive medical costs, as well as the implementation of a “public option” plan from the government can aid close to ten million more Americans, the focus is on both the lower and middle class. There is much to consider on both sides. To view the HuffPo article, click here.