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Trump Is Quietly Destroying Obamacare While Helping Millions of Americans—Here’s How
Townhall.com ^ | August 13, 2018 | Justin Haskins

Posted on 08/12/2018 10:58:23 PM PDT by Kaslin

Despite numerous promises from congressional Democrats and President Barack Obama when they passed the Affordable Care Act in 2010, the health care law has created far more problems than it has solved. Premiums, deductibles, and health care choices have all worsened since Obamacare went into effect, and there’s no sign America’s health insurance system will improve anytime in the near future.

President Trump inherited a health insurance crisis when he took office in January 2017, so he and congressional Republican leaders immediately began to work to implement their plan to replace Obamacare with a more market-centered approach to improving the nation’s health insurance system. That plan failed miserably, and ever since, the Trump administration has steadily been working—often quietly—to gut Obamacare of its most burdensome provisions, providing millions of Americans with financial relief and alternative ways to purchase affordable health insurance and putting Obamacare on a path toward complete collapse.

For example, in December 2017, at the request of the Trump administration and some conservatives in Congress, Republicans included in the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act a provision reducing the Obamacare penalty for not purchasing “qualifying” health insurance to $0, beginning in January 2019. This move was particularly important for working-class families because IRS tax data show of the 6.6 million filers required to pay the Obamacare penalty in 2015, the most recent year for which data are available, 36 percent had an adjusted gross income of $10,000 to $25,000. That means Republicans’ decision to lower the penalty to $0 will save millions of working-class people from having to pay fees they likely can’t afford.

Effectively eliminating the Obamacare penalty will provide great financial relief to millions of people, but it won’t help Americans gain access to lower-priced health insurance policies. Thankfully, the Trump administration has implemented other reforms to accomplish that goal.

For instance, in June, with the support of Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.), the Trump administration’s Department of Labor finalized a rule permitting sole proprietors, employees of small businesses, and small business owners with a “commonality of interest”—such as living in the same state or working in the same industry—to join together to purchase association health plans. AHPs allow thousands of people to buy insurance as a large group and across state lines, dramatically increasing health insurance options. These plans also lower costs for those in an association because they can negotiate prices as a group in the same way large employers can. Further, these plans don’t allow people to be denied coverage or forced to pay higher prices because of a preexisting condition, protecting those with health problems from the possibility of losing coverage or having to pay significantly more than other members of an association.

Additionally, earlier in August, the Trump administration changed federal rules governing the length of short-term health insurance plans, increasing their maximum period from three months to 12 months and allowing these plans to be renewed for up to 36 months. Short-term plans are great options for many young Americans and healthy adults who don’t receive coverage through a parent or employer and don’t have enough money to purchase an expensive Obamacare plan. Short-term plans often cost much less than $200 per month, more than half of what many mid-level Obamacare insurance plans cost. The reason they are cheaper is because they are exempt from many of the Affordable Care Act’s costliest mandates, including “essential health benefits” like alcohol and substance abuse coverage and maternity care, and because insurance companies can choose not to renew the plan once its period expires.

For those who don’t need many health care services—and there are millions of younger Americans who don’t—short-term plans, especially when coupled with a direct primary care agreement, can be very helpful ways to ensure one has “catastrophic” health coverage without going broke. And although it’s true a person with a short-term plan who develops a serious illness like cancer would be at risk of losing coverage when the agreed upon insurance period ends, he or she need not worry, because the plans sold through Obamacare exchanges guarantee a person cannot be denied coverage because of a preexisting condition, and a person enrolled in a short-term plan can enroll in an Obamacare exchange plan during any open-enrollment period or, if certain conditions are met, outside of the open-enrollment window.

One of the biggest criticisms of these moves, which will unquestionably help millions of people obtain cheaper health insurance, is that they undermine Obamacare and put at risk the entire Obamacare system. Critics argue that these plans draw healthier people out of the exchanges, making plans more expensive for those who choose to remain in the exchanges or are stuck there because of an expensive medical condition.

On this point, there is absolutely no doubt that critics are correct. The Trump administration’s policies will likely help to kill Obamacare by making it much more expensive for insurers still operating in the exchanges. CBO projects by 2023 about 6 million Americans will choose to purchase either an association health plan or a short-term health insurance plan, and a sizeable portion of those people likely already have health insurance now.

What critics fail to acknowledge, however, is that Obamacare is a total disaster that’s in the midst of a death spiral. Politicians and pundits that want to save Obamacare are comparable to mechanics calling for repairs of the Titanic immediately after it struck a massive iceberg; the ship is going to sink no matter how difficult it might for President Obama’s sycophants to admit. The only course of action now is to start getting as many people of the boat as possible—not to apply small patches to a vessel destined to sink.

Saving people from the Obamacare nightmare is exactly what President Trump is trying to do. These aren’t perfect solutions, of course, but perfect solutions are rarely available in the midst of a crisis. So, until Congress gets its act together and replaces Obamacare, Trump’s efforts are the only hope many Americans have of being able to purchase affordable health insurance.



TOPICS: Business/Economy; Constitution/Conservatism; Culture/Society; Editorial; Front Page News; Government; News/Current Events; Politics/Elections
KEYWORDS: 0bamacare; 2018election; 2020election; aca; election2018; election2020; health; healthcare; homosexualagenda; incometaxes; liberals; maga; obama; obamacare; presidenttrump; taxcutsandjobsact; taxreform; tcja; trump; trumpwinsagain
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1 posted on 08/12/2018 10:58:23 PM PDT by Kaslin
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To: Kaslin

The proposed fixes in the article all presuppose that government is the solution. If you believe that I’ve got some lovely property to sell you.


2 posted on 08/12/2018 11:10:51 PM PDT by lurk
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To: AdmSmith; AnonymousConservative; Berosus; Bockscar; cardinal4; ColdOne; Convert from ECUSA; ...
The Demagogic Party is going to need health care after the beating to their asses they are going to receive in November. Thanks Kaslin.

3 posted on 08/12/2018 11:11:15 PM PDT by SunkenCiv (www.tapatalk.com/groups/godsgravesglyphs/, forum.darwincentral.org, www.gopbriefingroom.com)
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To: Kaslin

More than one way to skin a government program.


4 posted on 08/12/2018 11:35:48 PM PDT by Jim Robinson (Resistance to tyrants is obedience to God!)
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To: SunkenCiv
The Demagogic Party is going to need health care after the beating to their asses they are going to receive in November. Thanks Kaslin.

LOL! YES!

5 posted on 08/12/2018 11:40:42 PM PDT by Cowboy Bob ("Other People's Money" = The life blood of Liberalism)
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To: Cowboy Bob
It's lucky for them that the free market has led to the proliferation of drive-through pharmacies, and a wider variety and choice for psych meds.

6 posted on 08/12/2018 11:45:31 PM PDT by SunkenCiv (www.tapatalk.com/groups/godsgravesglyphs/, forum.darwincentral.org, www.gopbriefingroom.com)
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To: Kaslin

Bump


7 posted on 08/12/2018 11:52:37 PM PDT by silverleaf (A man who kneels for the national anthem doesn't stand for much of anything)
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To: lurk
Government will always be the solution because our health care system is built on the underlying principle that every single person in this country has a God-given right to force other people to pay his or her medical bills.

You may think that's delusional Democrat/Marxist ideology at work, but it's not. In fact, you find plenty of folks right here on Free Republic who believe it with almost religious zeal.

8 posted on 08/13/2018 12:41:20 AM PDT by Alberta's Child ("The Russians escaped while we weren't watching them ... like Russians will.")
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To: SunkenCiv

But John Kasich disagrees


9 posted on 08/13/2018 1:06:06 AM PDT by nikos1121
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To: Alberta's Child

our health care system is predicated on the doctors’ beliefs that they are entitled to 6 figure incomes, not anything else.


10 posted on 08/13/2018 2:02:43 AM PDT by yldstrk (My heroes have always been cowboys)
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To: yldstrk

Baloney. Doctors go through a more rigorous education and training process than almost any other profession in America. How much do you think they should be paid for that?


11 posted on 08/13/2018 2:27:58 AM PDT by Alberta's Child ("The Russians escaped while we weren't watching them ... like Russians will.")
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To: sneakers

bttt


12 posted on 08/13/2018 3:09:37 AM PDT by sneakers (It's not the democraTIC party! It's the demoCRAT party!)
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To: Alberta's Child

You are right about that. They say they have “earned it”. Or, some other ridiculous excuse. And to pay their other bills also via their monthly check. These are not 70 and 80 year olds either.. they will consume from your children’s table for decades.


13 posted on 08/13/2018 3:24:10 AM PDT by momincombatboots (How many vetoed spending dollars with chuck n Nancy without wall funding?)
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To: yldstrk

Six figures means one hundred thousand dollars a year or more. A good welder earns more than that. In some areas you can’t even survive on a hundred grand a year.


14 posted on 08/13/2018 3:25:11 AM PDT by RipSawyer
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To: lurk

No, the proposed fixes all presuppose that good legislation and rule-making are helpful to a problem caused by bad legislation and rule-making. The fixes allow the market’s responses to the problems of Obamacare to expand.

Government is created by legislation and rule-making; legislation and rule-making that repeal government is not the same as government.


15 posted on 08/13/2018 3:34:44 AM PDT by dangus
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To: Kaslin

ObamaCare™ took a huge chunk out of my paycheck. It took even more last year. I sure hope next year is better at health care renewal time.


16 posted on 08/13/2018 3:45:01 AM PDT by \/\/ayne (I regret that I have but one subscription cancellation notice to give to my local newspaper.)
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To: lurk
Sorry cannot agree.

The introduced and now in affect nationwide, removes Obamacare mandates and helps it die a cruel death. Since the Congress could not get their heads together to introduce MORE government on top of Obamacare, Senator Paul's solution adds being able to purchase across State lines, removing prior laws that forbade this. It also rings the death knell even more for a failed Government program, Obamacare.

I think we got a mark in the win column

17 posted on 08/13/2018 3:58:00 AM PDT by eartick (Stupidity is expecting the government that broke itself to go out and fix itself. Texan for TEXIT!)
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To: eartick
The flaws of ObamaCare will never be corrected until the following three provisions are completely eliminated:

1. The elimination of annual and lifetime caps on coverage.

2. The prohibition against denying care for pre-existing conditions or pricing coverage for these conditions accordingly.

3. The establishment of minimum standards of coverage by the government.

The individual mandate was really just a tiny part of ObamaCare, and it played no role in the issues that are really driving health insurance costs up. The GOP has worn out its arms giving itself pats on the back for eliminating the ObamaCare penalty because they can't bring themselves to admit that they are incapable of dealing with the REAL issues here.

18 posted on 08/13/2018 4:19:41 AM PDT by Alberta's Child ("The Russians escaped while we weren't watching them ... like Russians will.")
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To: Alberta's Child

You used to get the best and brightest wanting to be doctors because you could make a good living and help people. They were and some still are a special breed.

Now doctors are reduced to being employees of insurance companies and forced to hire accountants and administrators just to get paid. Government in action.

Look at Canada and the UK. They import “doctors” from shithole countries who aren’t qualified to change a cat box.


19 posted on 08/13/2018 4:32:53 AM PDT by mindburglar (I like spelling it Lazers. It looks cooler.)
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To: Alberta's Child

#2 is the biggest fraud perpetrated by government against the medical insurance industry. Prohibiting insurance companies to deny care for pre-existing conditions (or institute a waiting period), or price the applicant’s coverage accordingly, invites gaming of the system. One can have no coverage (or minimal coverage) and then, upon receiving a catastrophic diagnosis, decide to purchase a plan to cover that condition - because the insurance company is prohibited from denying the application (or again, pricing the plan accordingly or instituting a waiting period).

If a similar law was imposed on the car insurance industry, then someone with no insurance could have an accident, then call up and purchase insurance to cover the damages. It’s insane.

Why is that law there? Why for “compassion”, of course.


20 posted on 08/13/2018 5:01:47 AM PDT by COBOL2Java (Marxism: Trendy theory, wrong species)
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