Overview of The Reasons Why Obamacare Should not Be Abolished

Many people rely on Obamacare. My grandma is a diabetic. She does not speak any English or have a job, so she gets help from Obamacare to pay for her medications and doctor visits. She also does not know how to drive, so all her visits are home visits. Her doctor and translator comes to her house every week to check her blood pressure, ask her about her week, and refill her medication. The medications includes anti-diabetic, insulin, and statin. She takes these medications every day along with stretching exercises. Without Obamacare she would not have access to all of these services. 29 million people in the United States alone suffer from diabetes. There are many people who depends on Obamacare to stay healthy. Obamacare should not be abolished because healthcare is expensive, it benefits people with no income, and it protects against discrimination.

Obamacare is a set patient protection and Affordable care act. In her article, “Everything you need to know about Obamacare,” Sarah Kliff, a health policy journalist from vox, explains that it is a set health insurance plan set by Congress and signed by President Obama in March 2010. In the article, “Don’t Scrap Obamacare, Fix it,” from Sun Sentinel Editorial, it says that there is a lot of controversy against Obamacare. Republicans hate the fact that Obamacare is a “trademark”. Republicans wanted to repeal Obamacare since the beginning. This shows just how much Republicans want to repeal Obamacare. They don’t want to keep Obamacare because of the “trademark” Obama has on it. Besides the fact that Republicans want to repeal Obamacare, there are many things that Obamacare provides like trips to the hospital, prescription drugs, mental health care, and maternity leave. One thing, in particular, about Obamacare is that it helps with patients who have pre-existing conditions meaning that they had previous health conditions before buying an insurance plan.

“Health insurers are not allowed to ask any personal questions relating to someone’s health status or their pre-existing conditions under Obamacare. What they can ask is age, location, and tobacco use”. This means that if an insurer asks a person more than these three simple questions then they could be in a lot of trouble because asking personal questions especially one related to health is strictly prohibited. Kliff also states that all of the branches of Obamacare plans covers the ten basic categories of medical services, emergency services, hospitalization, pregnancies, mental health, prescription drugs, rehabilitation and habilitation services, laboratory services, pediatric, and preventative. Obamacare also has no annual limits set on the plan, so this means there is more money in case of an emergency. Insurers cannot put a certain limit on their client, they have to pay for health or medical issues their client needs. The fact that there is no limit on the money when it comes to emergencies is beneficial to people because they do not have to worry about the expenses and can get treated without stressing over it. Compared to other health insurances, Obamacare is the only one that lessens this burden, and that is why a considerable amount of people support Obamacare.

Some may argue that Obamacare doesn’t improve health care because people aren’t getting full attention from their doctors. However, abolishing Obamacare would mean that doctors are only focused on their patients who pay more for the service. The healthcare quality would not improve because the doctors and insurance companies are paying more attention to people who have the money to pay them. Furthermore, not everyone has the money to pay their doctors and insurance companies the full amount. People with no income need Obamacare for medical assistance. With Obamacare, people can be sure that they are going to be covered. Also, doctors under Obamacare are going to give them the attention they need. Sarah Kliff, a health policy journalist from Vox, explains that Obamacare wants to reward each hospital if they see that there are higher rates of healthy people. This means that hospitals will give all patients the same high-quality treatment regardless if they are under Obamacare because they have a motivation to make everyone healthy. Having this change would increase hospital care and the quality of healthcare in general. This proves that healthcare could be improved whether or not a patient is under the Obamacare program. Doctors would be focused on their patient outcome rather than who paid for this and who did not. It is also argued that Obamacare is hurting small businesses because of the taxes that are being taken away from small businesses.

However, the Affordable Care Act would provide tax credits to companies who have less than twenty-five people if the owner provides health insurance for their company. This means that small businesses would be getting back money from taxes. According to his article, “Obamacare works wonder for small businesses, Don't repeal it”, Robert Bennett an opinion contributor for The Hill states that using tax money from the small business would be taking their money and putting it towards free insurance through Obamacare. This proves that there is a pro to having Obamacare for small businesses. If not for Obamacare, bigger corporations would take the lower rates for themselves and save the more expensive insurances for small businesses. This means that Obamacare is actually helping small businesses because the Affordable Care Act is providing tax credits for the owners of small businesses. If not for Obamacare providing health care services, smaller businesses would have to pay more to provide their employees with healthcare. Having Obamacare as an insurance plan would be cheap and stable. Employees would have a reliable source of healthcare making them come to work more often. In her article “So far, Obamacare isn’t hurting the economy or killing jobs” Tami Luhby, a senior writer for CNNMoney stated that “More than 15 million jobs have been added through November, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics”. This means that more jobs have been added for people to find a job. Luhby also said that fewer people are doing part-time jobs. This means that more people are finding a stable job. Millions of jobs are open to people. Therefore, Obamacare is not the reason for the decrease in employment.

The first reason Obamacare should not be abolished is because healthcare is expensive. Obamacare helps relieve people of their expenses. In his article, “Obamacare suffers as healthcare costs soar”, Barney Jopson a United States policy correspondent in Washington for the Financial Times tells about how “Americans spends more on healthcare than anything else”. This proves that most of Americans income go into healthcare. To some people, it might not seem like a lot of money because they have health benefits and a job, but to a family with low-income jobs and no insurance, it can be expensive. Jopson also states in his article that even though Americans spends the most on healthcare, Americans have shorter lifespans. The reasons for this is simply because Americans are unhealthy. Americans have chronic diseases such as diabetes, high blood pressure, and heart diseases. This means that Americans are going to the doctors on a daily or weekly basis. Medical bills are not being paid for because many Americans are poor. In her article, “What is Obamacare?,” Sarah Kliff, a health policy journalist from Vox, mentions in her article about an individual mandate which is “The provision of Obamacare that requires most Americans to purchase health insurance”. This makes sure that people are always covered by health insurance, it also encourages people to buy coverage especially healthy people who think that it is a waste of money. The individual mandate reinforces Americans health coverage. Kliff points out a good reason that taking this action of getting everyone to buy health coverage will decrease the number of premiums. This shows that if everyone has health insurance plans it will decrease the cost in premiums balancing the costs and therefore having a less expensive health insurance.

Another reason Obamacare should not be abolished is because it benefits people with no income. In her article, “Benefits of Obamacare: Advantages of the ACA,” Kimberly Amadeo, an author and business analyst, explains that hospital care can range from $2,000 to $20,000. Before Obamacare, people thought that their insurances would cover all their medical costs. This is important because before Obamacare health insurance policies did not cover for all medical bills. Many clients of insurance policies realized that their insurers had low maximums, meaning they only have a small amount of money to cover their clients’ needs. For people with no income, this burden can lead to being homeless. People could also become seriously hurt because of the fear of being stuck with more medical bills. By providing the 10 essential health Obamacare helps cut costs helping people with no income to be able to access health care. This means that people with no income have their preventative needs covered. It is important to realize that people with no income fears the whole healthcare system. Correspondingly, having Obamacare helps people become healthier. This will improve their lives knowing that they can rely on having healthcare. According to Amadeo, “Much of it is preventative care that must be provided at no cost”. This means people are getting preventative care. This includes lab tests, maternity leave, and dental and vision care for children which is free. Therefore, being healthy and having checkups will decrease the amount of times needing medical attention and people in bankruptcy.

Lastly, Obamacare should not be abolished because it protects against discrimination. According to National Women’s Law Center, a dedicated non- profit organization that helps improve women's lives, explained that healthcare is already expensive itself, being turned down help can increase a person’s level of stress. National Women’s Law Center also explained that “The discrimination seriously harms women and threatens their health, causing them to pay more for health care and health insurance and to risk receiving improper diagnosis and less effective treatment”. This means that discrimination could lead to misdiagnosis causing even more problems for women. That is why Obamacare is here to make sure that nothing like that happens. Not being able to have the same prices as men can cause women a lot of stress. For instance, without Obamacare, women would have to pay for the benefits that they need which is a lot because they may need maternity services, birth control, and breastfeeding support. Other health programs that assist with making healthcare affordable make women pay extra for having more needs especially when the insurance is bought individually by that person. Whereas if you bought insurance through an employer, they are expected to cover expenses. That is why the National Women’s law center strongly agree with section 1557 of the Affordable Care Act. Women have more responsibility than men especially when it comes to being pregnant. Women are taking care of their health and their baby’s health. Section 1557 is needed so that health insurers do not charge women more than men for needing more health and medical attention. This is important because women have more responsibilities than men such as maternity services, birth control, and breastfeeding. The Affordable Care Act is making sure that all insurance plans follow section 1557 so that women are covered (“NWLC”). Women need as much help as men. Not only would Obamacare help women get their insurance to decrease but also help senior citizens get keep their premiums low. According to Tami Luhby a senior writer for CNNMoney explains in her article, “Who Gets Hurt and Who Gets Helped if Obamacare is Repealed,” that Republicans are trying to pass a bill called the GOP bill. This bill will increase the cost of senior citizens annual premiums having them pay more and receive lower tax credits. For example, a 60 year-old would receive only $4000 under the GOP bill instead of $9,000 under Obamacare. For this reason, it shows discrimination against the old. Thus, discriminating against women and senior citizens would be unfair.

For eight years Obamacare has helped my grandma pay for her health expenses. She still to this day battles diabetes, and thanks to Obamacare, she is able to care for her children as well as their children. In his article, “Obamacare Suffers as Healthcare Costs Soar,” Barney Jopson a United States Policy correspondent in Washington for the Financial Times, tells a story of when a friend of Obama needed help. Four years later after Obamacare was passed, President Barack Obama was talking to one of his close friend. They talked about his friend’s sick son who suffers from brain cancer. Obama’s Friend confronted to Obama about the pile of medical bills. His friend was on the edge of selling their house to pay for the bills. Obama told him not to sell his house and that Obama will help with what he needs. “The man was Joe Biden, Mr. Obama’s Vice President. In May the following year, his son Beau died of brain cancer, Mr. Biden recounted the story, offering a striking reminder that high healthcare costs can be a source of angst in all corners of the U.S. society” Barney Jopson a United States Policy correspondent in Washington for the Financial Times.

After reading Jopson’s article, it really opened my eyes, and it proved to me how important Obamacare is for those who cannot afford health insurance. There are many people who depend on Obamacare to stay healthy. A lot of people might think that free healthcare means that they are paying for people’s medical bills, but in reality, they might be paying for someone to feel better or to be able to walk. Many people in the United States rely on Obamacare’s benefits. In “Don’t scrap Obamacare, fix it” from Sun Sentinel Editorial makes the point that “Obamacare should be improved, it’s definitely flawed but if more money is put into building a new health program it would cost more than fixing Obamacare”. Therefore, keeping Obamacare and improving it would be way better for the government and economy. Scraping Obamacare would take even more taxes out of people’s earnings making it a bigger obstacle to overcome.