By Navyaa Jain ‘23, Commentary Writer

The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA), commonly known as Obamacare, was signed into law by President Obama on March 23, 2010. Since then, it has sparked numerous debates on its “unconventional” approach to providing health insurance. Previously, the act made it mandatory to have health insurance, penalizing those who did not, but this mandate was struck down in 2019. Now, the ACA works by expanding Medicaid to lower-income families who cannot afford private health insurance. The individual mandate, which required everyone to have health insurance, seemed to be the most controversial part of the act and its removal was a victory for the Republican party. However, it has recently become clear that the mandate was not the only problem the act faced. 

Currently, the case Texas v. United States, which may appear before the Supreme Court, has the power to undo the ACA  completely. The case, a lawsuit presented by a few Republican attorneys claiming that the entire act is unconstitutional, came from a lower court and was later picked up by a New Orleans Federal Court. The lawyers built their case from a tax cut bill that was passed by Congress in 2017 which prevents them from being able to tax citizens for the ACA. However, since the Congress removed mandates, the ACA is still able to function properly without the use of the tax penalty, and therefore the lawyers’ claims refuse to make sense. 

Republicans continue to emphasize their overall dislike for any plans regarding Medicaid while the Trump Administration claims to be about to introduce their initiative, one yet to be described. On the other hand, Democrats continue to support a government-regulated healthcare system, either Obamacare or Medicare-for-All, a plan that moves to eradicate private health insurance.

Having a government-funded healthcare policy such as Obamacare has changed America for the better. Not only has the number of uninsured people in the United States decreased from 18.2% to 10.3% since 2010, but the benefits that people previously received on Medicaid and Medicare have improved. Unfortunately, Obamacare also caused the loss of 3 to 5 million employment-based insurance and private health insurance plans. It is also estimated to have added $820 billion to the national debt on top of the $940 billion listed in the original plan. Regardless of the side one takes, it is crucial to mention that the ACA is directly responsible for over 20 million people and eradicating it would jeopardize those people.

The people receiving health insurance through the ACA will not be the only ones affected and therefore its reversal would be drastic. Obamacare is responsible for calorie counts on menus and provides a pathway to the reduction of drug prices. It also slows the rise of national health care costs and ensures that all insurance plans still offer 10 essential treatments. Most importantly, the act prevents insurance providers from rejecting people or increasing their prices due to pre-existing conditions.

While Texas v. United States cannot be settled before the 2020 presidential election, there are numerous possible outcomes for the ACA depending on the outcome of the election itself. If Trump remains President, the Republicans would constantly work to abolish the ACA and other federally funded healthcare systems. As established, this would not bode well for citizens dependent on the policy. If a Democratic candidate is elected as the next President, then the country can be sure to have some insurance system in place, but the type of system changes with each candidate. 

While some Democratic presidential candidates, including Biden, have proposed changes to the already standing act, others such as Sanders and Warren continue to move to a Medicare-for-All plan. The idea of one universal healthcare standard for all citizens regardless of their ability to pay seems too good to be true, at least in the way Sanders and Warren propose it. Universal health care has been achieved before; in fact, America is the only developed country not to offer universal healthcare. However, programs like this put a huge strain on the government, sometimes using up to 40% of the overall budget. Considering how the United States can barely handle the costs of Obamacare, it seems unlikely they will successfully implement a larger, more expensive plan.

Although Obamacare is not free of its problems, it greatly affects healthcare today and the country’s healthcare system cannot afford the major change that eliminating the act would cause. It is not perfect, but currently, the ACA seems to be the only way to achieve healthcare for all.