On March 6, the Republican House of Representatives publicly released the American Health Care Act (AHCH), nicknamed Trumpcare/Ryancare. The AHCA was specifically created in response to the widely disliked Affordable Care Act (also referred to as Obamacare). From what is known about Trumpcare, I can firmly say that it’s not a good bill.
Many facets have proven that the bill is not the golden egg Republicans claim it to be. We are still in the first 100 days of Trump’s presidency and his administration has purposefully rushed a proposed healthcare plan with its low quality as proof.
“It decreases the amount of people covered but it also decreases higher income taxes,” said Trent Thompson, a senior cinematic arts major. “It then allows for better treatment and work practices for the healthcare professionals. All around it has its pros and cons but it’s a much more Republican sided plan than Obamacare.”
Though I agree the AHCH has benefits and negatives, the main issue I have has to do with the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) findings released March 13. The office claims that people with AHCH healthcare insurance coverage would drop by 14 million people by 2018, 21 million in 2020, and an astonishingly 24 million in 2026 when compared to Obamacare. The CBO reported that the legislation would “reduce federal deficits by $337 billion over the 2017-2026 period,” according to the Washington Post.
Between the Democratic and Republican parties there are very mixed reviews about the CBO report. There are many Republicans who disagree with the CBO’s reports and many who see the scores as accurate. These two wings of the Republican Party split between Team Trump and Team Ryan.
Former Speaker of the House of Representatives Newt Gingrich, in support of Trump, advocated for the abolishment of the CBO, claiming they were wrong about their estimates on Obamacare.
State Secretary of Health and Human Services Tom Price questioned the report as well.
“We disagree strenuously with the report. We believe our plan will cover more individuals at a lower cost,” Price said.
Finally, there’s current Speaker Paul Ryan who says the CBO reports actually exceeds his expectations.
What’s happening here is pretty serious because there is a heavily divided stance on the accuracy of the CBO’s reports.
“The goal of Trumpcare under Trump is to increase the amount of coverage for people and the goal under Ryan is to lower the cost and this puts them at serious odds, Ben Shapiro, the editor-in-chief of The Daily Wire, said.
Something I find even more fascinating is that the CBO says that fewer people would lose their health insurance if Obamacare was simply dropped than if it was replaced by Trumpcare.
The Obama administration allowed one year after the ACA was proposed to Congress before publicly releasing it. Republicans are making it seem like Trumpcare is the only choice besides Obamacare, which is just not true. We should always be able to go back to the drawing board.
I do not believe in the democratic metric for success, that the more people that are covered by government agencies the more successful the legislation. Obamacare covered more but that does not correlate success, even if the CBO reports are accurate.
The Republican Party needs to take a step back and reanalyze Trumpcare. If they continue to stand divided with this one bill, we will see an in-fight that will deeply hurt the Republican Party.