Opinion Analysis by Tala Karkanawi, Staff Writer

November 3rd, 2020

To reach part 2 on the foreign policies click here

To read part 3 on the economy click here

Defining and outlining briefly how the US’s healthcare functions, we see healthcare as provided through various different governmental and non-governmental organisations. Healthcare treatment is offered through multiple different private health insurance, and public health insurance, such as Medicare and Medicaid. The United States does not provide a standard universal healthcare program unlike most developed countries or welfare states around the world. Medicare and Medicaid are designed more particularly to serve for the elderly, the disabled, the lower socio-economic classes, and the youth. Ever since then-President Barack Obama pledged on his seat, he swore to change how the system works in the US when it comes to healthcare, and it did. However, republicans voted entirely against it because of the issues that may rise from ‘Obamacare’ or, the ‘Affordable Care Act (ACA)’. 

Ever since ACA came into action, the Act has clearly stated its main goals; make affordable health insurance available to more people, expand the Medicaid program to cover all adults with income below 138% of the federal poverty level, and last but not least, support innovative medical care delivery methods that are designed to decrease the costs of the health care in the US overall. If the healthcare system that has implemented under the Obama Administration saw good development and implementation, then why does Trump want to eradicate Obamacare from US history? Well, it’s certainly more than a dislike of the name.

The primary concern with ACA/Obamacare is that health care spending will take more capital and fund from family budgets, and a larger portion from workers’ gross pay. Even if the ACA did not directly cause this issue, it doeshowever bind the ability to manage it by limiting the capability to pick a smaller set of welfares, more costing share, and much more. The ACA is trying to force the direction of healthcare to remain un-stabilized, uncertain, and in continuous limbo.

Furthermore, another primary concern comes directly with the three set of laws that are intact with ACA. Rather than increasing better chances of providing the US with a better healthcare system, these laws are contributing to making it worse. These laws put restrictions on Medicare spending, the general growth of Medicaid hospital spending, and the development and the progress of federal tax subsidies in the health insurance policy exchanges to precisely no more than the amount of growth of real GDP per capita and about half of a percent. 

Now what Trump wants to implement as a healthcare and public health policy is to completely eradicate the ACA. The Justice Department in the US has sided with the eradicating of ACA as it is deemed to violate the constitution as it demands the people to purchase health insurance. Trump has promised the American citizens and his voters that an upcoming plan on a new and a developed healthcare is being put into place, and has called the Obamacare a ‘disaster’.

TrumpCare is a referencing ‘nickname’ that was given to the supposed replacement of Obamacare, and the general changes when it comes to healthcare under Trump. Even though Trumpcare never passed through the congress, it was divided into several other bills that have passed through congress, such as ‘The January Executive order’, and the ‘April 17 Regulations’. Further, President Trump has signed an order earlier in 2020 which protects the US citizens with pre-existing health conditions, and declared his aims of making this a national US policy. 

However, the other Presidential candidate, Joseph Biden, has much on the contrary noted that he will be working on expanding the ACA of the Obama Administration instead of finding new reformations that could change the ACA. Biden’s plan on trying to rebuild the ACA, is generally his way of trying to subsidize it further, while leaving the general and essential structure of it unchanged. Even without the complications of a Republican opponent, Democrats have botched to build on the ACA — not from a lack of moral and ethical aims, however, it is because of the fatal intricacy and difficulty of the written law itself. That same difficulty that has kept the media from reporting on the Democratic failures to build on its own law, which has enabled for Biden the comfort into pretending that he’ll be able to do so. 

President Trump was able to decrease the prices of medicine and drugs for the first time in decades by more than 50%. In addition, Trump was able to remove legislation and policies which had previously resulted in Americans sponsoring more affordable drugs in other countries. Medicare patients will be permitted to have the lowest price available to citizens in countries with similar economic conditions. Diabetic patients registered in Medicare Part D will also be able to obtaining insulin for a maximum of $35 per month, which eradicates a large and essential concern for most Americans in the US.

Considering the COVID-19 situation and the administration’s response to it, as Trump’s controversial decision and response stopped all flights emerging from China on the 31st of January, 2020. Biden immediately criticized Trump the next day with the argumentation that his was xenophobic of him. However recently, Biden himself has promised to shut down the entire country and stop all flights in response to the pandemic if it is necessary. It shows the arguably politically superficial side of Biden and his aggression that is towards Trump no matter what the situation may be. In addition, multiple vaccines have already taken place and began clinical trials under the Trump administration. In this specific situation, there is of course no precise comparison between Trump and Biden, because Biden did not contribute to finding a well-planned proposal on how to tackle COVID-19. 

2021 is expecting major changes both ways if Trump remains or if Biden takes his place. Trump has a well-planned strategy for his upcoming presidential election, and if he loses, The United States loses as well.