Round 1
Brendan Matelski – It was on Jan. 11 2017 that the Senate voted to start the repealing process of the Affordable Care Act, commonly known as Obamacare. These steps are the first of many that will leave around 20 million U.S. citizens uninsured, among numerous other issues. This is compounded by the fact that Republicans have yet to create any meaningful legislation that they have repeatedly stated will replace the ACA. This plan to repeal and replace is especially unwarranted if thought about it like a cooking recipe; to say if a chef doesn’t like how their recipe tastes the first time they make it, they don’t counterproductively throw out the recipe in favor of a new one from scratch. This analogy only fails when it comes to describing the stakes at play, as the chef only has to worry about how their customers will receive it versus how many people will die without healthcare.
Samantha Stein – While the ACA has many redeemable qualities, it still fails in a few aspects. I agree that nothing is perfect on first try, and adjustments can be made in order to fix the ACA rather than just scrapping it entirely. However, there are some major shortcomings that would need to be addressed if it was kept rather than scraped. With that in mind, it can be complicated to sign up. When the ACA website was first launched, it was filled with technical problems. These problems did get resolved in the end but created a complicated process for many people. There now has to be a section of the website devoted to explaining the signup process and available options because previously it was so complicated. One solution to this issue would be to change the process so that applying for health care is a smoother process.
Round 2
Stein – Businesses with over 50 full time employees must provide health insurance. Many businesses have been keeping a lot of employees just under full time in order to not provide health care. This is a recent issue due to the ACA being an option for people. Why would businesses want to provide healthcare when they can force their employees to have ACA. This obviously is a huge issue because it’s causing more people to either rely on ACA or have no insurance at all. You can be fined if you don’t have insurance. For an employee working under 30 hours a week, insurance can be expensive regardless of whether it is provided by the ACA or not. With the ACA, those people would face further costs in order to pay fines for not having insurance. Also, the ACA offers a wider and wider range of services. This has increased premiums, once again, making it nearly unaffordable for some people.
Matelski – This goes back to my previous argument of the ACA needing to be mended rather than removed and replaced. It is important to realize that the United States has lacked even basic public access to healthcare when compared to almost every other industrialized, first world country. So while the ACA is currently flawed, it is still a step in the right direction towards what is considered normal in the modern world. The ACA improves the lives of many by making healthcare more available and it is no wonder to see that our heavily privatized system leaves many without it. Then with the ACA repealed, anywhere from 20 to 50 thousand U.S. citizens could die each and every year. In one term of office, at even the lowest estimates, President Trump and the Republican Party will let more Americans die due to lack of access to healthcare than in either of the Korean, Vietnam, Afghanistan or Iraq wars.
Round 3
Matelski – One important aspect of the ACA that has been extremely popular is the regulation against insurance companies not allowing those with preexisting conditions to use their services. The repealing of the ACA will no doubt lead to insurance companies rejecting payment and treatment to many with preexisting conditions, a term that’s exact definition ranges from company to company. Common ailments that will most likely not be covered after the repeal of the ACA range from diabetes to cancer treatment to even pregnancy in some cases. This lack of coverage will no doubt lead to these thousands of deaths per year that I talked about earlier, while others will only continue living because they have taken on so much debt in the form of loans meant for paying for treatments. It is clear that without the ACA or a replacement in sight, many hard working U.S. citizens will suffer.
Stein – Having some form of health care is important. However, whatever comes next must be thought out in order to not have the same problems many people faced with the ACA. A solution needs to be found so that taxes do not increase more than necessary, as they have with the ACA. Businesses need to step up and provide insurance for their employees rather than cutting hours. The process needs to be made smoother. As it stood, the ACA was a flawed system. Health care should be offered to everyone regardless of preexisting conditions or income level. However, it is possible that the ACA was not the right system. A new system should be put in place. The ACA has seemingly numerous flaws that would need fixing. There comes a point where it’s easier to repel an act than it is to try to fix it.
