The issue involving health insurers, the government, and pre-existing conditions has been a problem for many years. With laws being set in place, added to, and repealed, the problem is still up for debate. There are many routes for how to move ahead on the matter but, knowing which one is the best still remains up for questioning.

What is a pre-existing condition?

A pre-existing condition refers to a condition that a person has prior to signing off with a new health insurance company. While the line is shaky depending on which state you live in and which health insurance you are looking at, such conditions include: cancer, asthma, heart issues, diabetes, and mental illness. Regardless, though, of how trivial the condition may be, when referencing ‘pre-existing’ it simply means ‘pre-insurance’.

What is Obamacare?

In 2010, ‘Obamacare’, also known as the ‘Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act’ was put in place. The biggest take-away from this act is that insurance companies are not allowed to refute coverage for those who have pre-existing conditions. To more in depth about what Obamacare’s intentions were please visit this website here. Prior to this act being released, anyone with this sort of condition would commonly be denied coverage from insurance. This is issue was avoided if one worked for a large company in which they would provide the health insurance for you. While this seems like a simple solution, transferring to a different line of work for the desperate need of healthcare is incredibly unfortunate. So, Obamacare arrived in order to fix the issue.

What is the problem?

This act’s effectiveness is arguable, depending on who you speak to about it. Many say Obamacare was not radical enough, and while it had positive effects on some of the population, a large majority of the rest are still struggling. According to HealthSystemTracker.org “Relative to the size of its wealth, the U.S. spends a disproportionate amount on health care”. The image to the left presents a charge that shows our countries spending on healthcare, comparably to other countries. Clearly, the U.S. is facing issues, but arguably its rate has slowed down up until recently, when the rate started to pick up again. Additionally, many argue that rates, premiums, and deductibles are increasing, and even more so for those who already had an insurance plan and had to switch. With this continuous increase, middle class families find themselves struggling to stay onboard with healthcare services. Overall the problem is that as a nation there is too much spent on healthcare and not enough benefits in return. While Obamacare was successful in some people’s eyes, it won’t last for much longer without more direct changes in policy or a new policy all together.

President Trump’s response

Donald Trump, since his becoming the President, has been out to tear Obamacare down. To hear his opinions on it during his campaigning years, check out this Forbes interview. While his repeal for the Obamacare did not workout, Trump is trying his best to break down the walls of it from the inside out. He passed the Tax Act which is now currently in effect for the new year. This act eliminates individual mandate penalties. This is important because these penalties are what keep the younger and healthier citizens engaged in insurance. These people don’t have a direct need to pay the premiums because they most likely will not exploit the plan as much as their older and sicker counterparts. But, insurance companies need both these ends of the spectrum to buy their services so that they are in part spending money on those they need to care for, while receiving money to make profit for those they do not need to care for. Penalties via taxes, was the government’s way to motivate the purchasing of healthcare to keep Obamacare afloat. With Trump’s removal of this policy, there will be less motivation for people to take part in healthcare, causing insurance companies involved in the Obamacare exchange system to drop out. Additionally, the president has generally made it more difficult for insurers to lower premium costs for the select group of young healthy clients. Without these discounts, the motivation once again, is lost. While Trump’s strategy is destructive, it’s rather successful in the decline of Obamacare. Trump himself has been quite wishy-washy on his own beliefs for healthcare involving the matter, stating publicly that he believes insurance shouldn’t be able to deny service to those with pre-existing conditions, while his actions show otherwise. According to this website 84% of people say insurance denial to those with these conditions shouldn’t be allowed, and many of these people voted for Trump. But, as mentioned before the actions and the values clearly don’t add up, and the president isn’t doing the best job at accounting for it, or really proposing a better solution. For more on this presidential hypocritical analysis visit here.

Any solutions?

All in all many people find solution to this issue in policies such as single payer healthcare or free market healthcare. Shifting a from a semi-universal to completely universal healthcare system is a promising option. With a method such a single-payer healthcare, the responsibility would lie in the hands of the government. Many democrats believe this is the way to go. The argument from republicans lies in options. They feel that privatized healthcare is the best option because there is competition and consumer choice. This follows a free market healthcare plan in which the government is left out, the price and decision making for care falls between the consumer and the insurance company. Depending on who falls into presidential power next year, that decision will closely align with theirs. Regardless nearly everyone can agree healthcare in this country needs to be fixed, severely improved, and soon.