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Most Americans probably think that the fight over Obamacare, better known as the Affordable Care Act, has been going on for years.
Democrats signed the law into law without Republican help in 2010, and Republicans largely spent the next seven years actively trying to repeal it.
That congressional repeal effort effectively ended in 2017, even though Republicans held the White House and both chambers of the Capitol at the time, even though he was then a senator. John McCain joined Democrats and some Republicans with his dramatic negative vote on a hastily crafted “skinny repeal” bill.
The country has discussed Obamacare through multiple elections, Capitol Hill debates, and Supreme Court decisions. The law is here to stay.
More people than ever are signing up for 2024 coverage through federal and state exchanges. Open enrollment lasts until mid-January in most states. Another state, North Carolina, finally implements its expansion of Medicaid coverage for low-income Americans. Only 10 states continue to refuse to expand their Medicaid programs.
The main problem of 2017, which former President Donald Trump now considers a “low point” for his party, was that Republicans did not have a comprehensive plan to replace the landmark health care law and that they failed to achieve unanimity within their party. even for a refined attempt to eviscerate the act.
So it was a bit surprising to see Trump share a Wall Street Journal op-ed — about bipartisan frustration with health care industry consolidation being used by corporations to skirt profit caps set by the health law — to assert that Republicans should “never give up.” trying to end the law.
The suggestion was met with criticism from fellow Republicans on Capitol Hill, who haven’t seriously considered repealing the law in years. The Democrats immediately tried to seize on his comments. Even Trump seemed to acknowledge that his suggestion was unbalanced for the country when he calibrated it Wednesday.
“I don’t want to end Obamacare, I want to REPLACE it with MUCH BETTER HEALTH CARE. Obamacare sucks!!! he wrote in an article overnight.
Aside from the fact that Trump didn’t have a detailed health care plan, that was one of the main reasons he couldn’t repeal the law. More importantly, the time most of the country started thinking Obamacare wasn’t bad was around the time Republicans failed to repeal it.
The health policy research organization KFF, formerly known as the Kaiser Family Foundation, has used a regular series of tracking polls to determine public approval of the law since President the time, Barack Obama, signed it in 2010.
View this interactive content on CNN.com
It is interesting to observe the trend in these polls, which show that the law has become more popular in recent years and is now favorably viewed by three-fifths of all Americans.
This favor extends to the young and the old, to whites and people of color. Democrats largely support the law, and independents reflect the approval of three-fifths of the country as a whole.
Republicans are the only subgroup in KFF polls that continue to view the law unfavorably, although their opposition has diminished somewhat. In the latest KFF poll, about a fifth of Republicans favored the law.
The last time the Affordable Care Act was viewed no more favorably than unfavorably by all Americans was in April 2017, shortly after Trump took office and shortly before McCain took office. saves the law with his speech. dramatic vote in July.
00:47 – Source: CNN
Obamacare Repeal: Watch McCain Vote No
Exit polls from presidential elections confirm growing acceptance of the law. In 2016When Trump won the White House while losing the popular vote, about the same share of voters said the law went too far (47%) as those who said it didn’t go far enough or that it was almost right (48%).
In 2020When Trump lost both the White House and the popular vote, exit polls asked whether the Supreme Court should uphold the law (51%) or overturn it (44%).
None of this means that the U.S. health care system is perfect and functioning properly.
It’s not. When I went to the KFF website to look at the organization’s Obamacare poll data, I noticed an article from KFF CEO Drew Altman about how the the cost of health insurance may be unaffordableespecially for people employed in small businesses.
He also cited data from a recent KFF survey in which between 20% and 30% of low-income Americans with health coverage through their employer reported having difficulty paying their medical bills.
There are many other problems, many of which covered year-round by CNN’s Tami Luhby.
Preventative care coverage is under threat. Although the Affordable Care Act has largely withstood legal challenges over the years, they have not stopped. A federal judge in Texas struck down the law’s requirement that certain preventative care — statins and some cancer screenings, among others — be covered at no cost. This case is currently the subject of an appeal process. Learn more about efforts to keep coverage in place.
Several states still have not expanded Medicaid. While most of the country has expanded Medicaid coverage to help low-income Americans afford health care, large states like Florida and Texas, as well as Wisconsin and much of the South, have not. didn’t do it. Georgia is experience a work requirement for some low-income people to obtain Medicaid coverage.
There is a cover hole. Millions of low-income Americans in these states without Medicaid expansion are neither eligible for the Medicaid coverage they might qualify for in other states nor eligible for subsidies to buy insurance through the Affordable Care Act exchanges .
Cancellation of Medicaid coverage. More than 11 million Americans who were able to temporarily keep their Medicaid coverage during the Covid-19 pandemic lost it in a rollout process that will continue through the spring, according to KFF. They will need to find coverage through an employer or on the Obamacare exchanges if they cannot requalify for Medicaid. Learn more about Medicaid eligibility.
Premiums are more expensive. The cost of care on the exchanges, like almost everything, is increasing. The average increase is 4%, although there are many plans available on the exchanges, which vary from state to state. Almost everyone who gets coverage on the exchanges qualifies for help paying premiums from the federal government, and these subsidies largely protect them from rate hikes. Find out more about 2024 bonuses.
Prescription drug prices are still a problem. Drugs generally remain more expensive in the United States than in other countries, although a new provision passed by Democrats allowing Medicare to negotiate prices for a few medications could help reduce costs some widely used medications. Reducing drug costs remains a constant commitment of American politicians on both sides. There is no agreement on how to achieve this.
These are valid policy debates that lawmakers could work on together.
