Trumping the Affordable Care Act

Though it hasn’t been at the forefront of national news for a few weeks, the Trump administration has made numerous efforts to pass the Graham-Cassidy bill that would repeal the Affordable Care Act (also known as Obamacare). To understand the newest proposal, let’s first look at what the ACA does: The individual mandate requires that most Americans have health coverage, or pay a fine. The Graham-Cassidy bill would eliminate this mandate entirely, and there would be no replacement or substitute program on the federal level. However, states could individually decide to create their own version of the ACA, or reinstate the mandate. Essentially, Medicaid expansion would be cut, and because it would no longer be subsidized, in a matter of about a decade thousands of people could lose their health coverage. In turn, this would mean that people currently receiving federal health care subsidies would likely see deep cuts, or complete elimination of their aid. As of right now, the house has not voted on the bill because they do not have the additional fifty votes needed to pass it. But, this doesn’t mean the GOP won’t try to pass another health care bill in the near future. By not holding a vote on the Graham-Cassidy bill, Mitch McConnell’s (R-KY) last ditch effort being made on behalf of the Republican party, and the Trump administration, failed to materialize before the session ended at the end of September. The Trump administration has now failed to deliver on a key component of the campaign; dismantling the current healthcare system.