One of the biggest impacts in the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 pushed by President Trump takes a direct aim at the legacy of former President Obama. The tax reform bill, which was signed into law on December 22, repeals the Obamacare requirement that all Americans obtain health insurance.
For those who don’t know or understand what this 2010 law does, Obamacare, or the Patient Protection Affordable Care Act, is the federal law intended to improve access to health insurance for all U.S. citizens. Its main focus is to provide more Americans with affordable health insurance, while also reducing the spending on health care in the U.S. President Obama supported this bill and helped pass it into law in order to do important things such as offer Americans protections and rights regarding healthcare, expand Medicare to all adults, and improve it for seniors.
Analysts say that this repeal will lead to millions of people losing their coverage, possibly including some of our own Falls Church High School students. Losing coverage puts many at risks that they didn’t have to worry about before. People could lose their coverage because in order for affordable insurance to be available, there has to be enough healthy people who buy insurance to help offset the higher costs for those citizens who struggle with health problems. If healthy people choose not to buy insurance, since there is no longer a requirement to do so, the poorest and sickest among us could suffer the most.
Supporters of the mandate’s repeal believe that it will reduce government spending. Originally Obamacare created more than $1.9 trillion in new health care spending, mainly through an increase in Medicaid spending. President Trump and the Republican Party generally try to reduce government spending in any way they can, so they see this change as a way to save a significant amount of money for taxpayers.
Obamacare is an extremely controversial topic. Repealing this law will calm down the section of the U.S. population that hates it. The repeal saves citizens who were forced into buying health insurance, and saves those who were penalized from not wanting to buy it. It is whom of us to respect the decision of this repeal and those affected by it.