At face value, it’s difficult for many to comprehend exactly what a repeal of the Affordable Care Act would entail during the upcoming Trump Administration. For some, there’s really no effect, as employer-sponsored healthcare would more than likely remain from most employers. For others—particularly those whose healthcare was purchased through the Health Insurance Marketplace—their healthcare would vanish, replaced with something possibly less comprehensive and more expensive.
It’s a scary scenario, compounded by Donald Trump’s wavering on what he truly plans to do with healthcare. But a new article by the Huffington Post’s Jonathan Cohn takes the concerns a step further. Not only would an ACA repeal strip the healthcare of over 20 million Americans, but it would return money to the pockets of those who need it the least.
In Cohn’s commentary, he explains how the business model of the Affordable Care Act was derived from taxing the presumed 1%—including corporations and well-paid individuals—utilizing that money to fund the multiple programs that have come since the ACA was enacted in 2010. Repealing the law would cancel that taxing, and while those who previously had no healthcare due to cost now received it, they would lose it with the money being returned to the abundantly wealthy, including the possibility of Donald Trump himself.
Sure, taxing wealthy families at a higher rate (called a “surcharge”) and forcing applicable large employers to pay penalties for failing to offer their employees healthcare coverage may be seen as “unfair” by those having to pay it, but consider how that the likely small dent to their incomes has helped an entire nation. Removing the affordability of healthcare for 20 million Americans in an effort to return money to the already wealthy is indeed a controversial topic. Where do you stand?
To read HuffPo’s article in full, click here.