After a long decade, President Donald Trump’s “concept” for a plan to replace the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare, is finally emerging.
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If you remember, when Trump announced he was running for president in 2015, he promised to end the ACA. However, his plans for how to replace landmark legislation that ended the practice of insurance companies denying coverage for “pre-existing conditions” and now provides health coverage to more than 45 million Americans have been vague.
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When he was asked during the 2024 presidential debate how he would replace the ACA, he famously said that he had “a concept of a plan.”
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Now, with the Affordable Care Act’s extended subsidies set to expire at the end of the month, Republicans have unveiled a new health care plan.
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Republican Senators Bill Cassidy and Mike Crapo shared their plan, called the Patient Health Care Freedom Act. Instead of extending ACA subsidies to lower monthly health plan premiums, the plan would deposit funds directly into a health savings account that would only be available to people enrolled in high-deductible health plans.
@SenBillCassidy / via Twitter: @SenBillCassidy
If you could have a refresher on health insurance:
Premiums are the monthly fees you pay for health insurance.
A deductible is the amount of care you must pay out of pocket before your coverage takes effect.
High-deductible plans typically have lower premiums, but you have to spend more out of pocket.
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The plan would also expand access to catastrophic health insurance plans, which have very high deductibles and are currently only available to people under 30 or those who qualify for a hardship or affordability waiver.
In response, people pointed out that this is not actually how health care works in the United States. For example, when was the last time you received an accurate quote for medical services? In reality, only about 7% of medical expenses can be compared this way, according to research from the Medical Cost Institute.
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Not to mention that during a medical emergency, there is little time to “shop around” for the best price. Additionally, medical expenses can be unpredictable. What if you develop complications? Or what if your health care needs suddenly exceed your expected expenses due to illness or injury?
In addition, $2,000 is not much to pay for medical expenses in the United States.
Others noted that it sounds like the plan’s funding would go to insurance companies anyway, while also encouraging more people to take high-deductible plans, which would leave them shouldering a larger portion of the cost if they do need to use Medicare.
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The doctor expressed shock at how “lazy” this attempt at a medical ‘plan’ was.
To sum up, many people are saying:
@seanwr1983 / via Twitter: @seanwr1983
The Senate is expected to vote on the health care proposal on Thursday. What do you think? Let us know in the comments.
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