Role of New Initiative in Healthcare Reform

The development in the US Congress of a bill to repeal key provisions of Obamacare began even before the inauguration of Donald Trump. Subsequently, Republicans in the Lower House of Congress drafted a new health care reform called the American Health Care Act, around which there was a fierce controversy.

The bill was revised several times and the second time was adopted by the House of Representatives. The initiative passed to the Senate, after which the document was originally supposed to be sent to the president for signature, but here the plans to abolish Obamacare were practically stopped.

The reform, developed by the House Republicans, was seen as somewhat more radical, that is, it implied more significant changes in the Obamacare structure. However, even taking into account the fact that the senators proposed a rollback of the Obamacare reform only “at a minimum”, the initiative failed.

• First, it implied the abolition of compulsory insurance by employers of their employees and the personal obligation of citizens to purchase insurance.
• Second, it was proposed that state authorities be empowered, at their discretion, to exclude pregnancy and contraceptive payments from compulsory insurance plans.
• Thirdly, a proposal was put forward to allow insurance companies to take from old people not three, but five times more money for insurance.
• Fourth, 2020 implies to reduce federal support to states for the program of providing medical assistance to low-income citizens.

In addition, the reform implied the abolition of the fine that Americans are required to pay for the lack of insurance.

With regard to “pre-contractual diseases,” the Senate was proposing that insurers retain their obligation to cover pre-contractual illnesses, but allow insurers to request the federal government to cut aid before drug payments are made. The House of Representatives wanted to leave the matter at the mercy of the state governments. In addition, the Senate proposed not to abolish the system of exchanges where citizens can buy insurance.

The scheme proposed by Trump and the Republicans has its drawbacks. Moreover, in many respects, they began to be considered shortcomings due to the fact that people began to get used to the principles of Obamacare. For example, the obligation of employers to provide health insurance to employees began to be actively used by young people and many other Americans, who have completely forgotten about paying for medical expenses left on the shoulders of employers.