The US healthcare problem has long been known, and people have been trying to improve it for years. The most significant disadvantage is the high cost of health insurance. Americans spend a lot of money on things that may not happen, such as a severe illness. In fact, there are often situations where a person spends money on nothing and cannot make the most of it. One of the solutions to this problem was the Affordable Care Act passed by Barack Obama in 2010, widely known as Obamacare.
The essence of the reform was that the state would pay some part of the cost of insurance instead of the individual. It introduced many other insurance companies into the market, which lowered the prices in a competitive environment. Despite the government’s plans at the time, which were projected to increase the number of insured citizens to 20 million people, the idea failed, and only one million people joined the program. Obamacare was mainly used by people who are below the poverty line, while the rest of the population could not use the service because most people get health insurance as part of employment benefits.
Trying to understand what went wrong and the disadvantages of the reform, it becomes clear that the idea was flawed from the start. A decade later, the ex-president Barack Obama visited the White House to discuss his reform with Joe Biden. This may help to remove many downsides and bring the reform in line, such as raising sales taxes on medical equipment and pharmaceuticals. On top of that the taxes for people with higher income significantly increased. That was the primary source from which funding was taken to reimburse part of the insurance benefits for people with low incomes. Thus, the government-imposed insurance itself as compulsory. Without it, people were fined with massive fines, and to avoid this, people accepted health insurance even if they were against it. Looking at this reform from doctors’ point of view, it could be said that their income had failed. In this regard, it has often been the case that a person who has joined the Obamacare has not been able to get medical care because it is not profitable.
However, Obamacare has had its benefits. It should be noted that despite the many problems that Obamacare has suffered, it is still a good option for further healthcare reforms. For example, the introduction of many insurance companies into the marketplace has allowed people to choose between different insurance plans that fit different family budgets. An unintended benefit is that companies have lost the ability to financially set limits on their customer service (Cassidy 2017). Most companies prescribed an amount of money they were willing to pay for treatment, which was much less than the actual costs. In addition, the availability of medicines has increased, and people have become more convenient to order them because the insurance has partially covered this as well.
In conclusion, it can be said that the reform itself was quite successful. However, it has caused negative feelings among a large number of Americans and is not aimed at removing all the problems immediately. It is an investment in the future when all the issues are solved. The fact that the US government has not yet repealed it indicates that the President and his advisers believe in the effectiveness of the reform and are willing to continue to develop it.
Reference
Cassidy, John. “Three Ways to Fix Obamacare.” The New Yorker, 2017. Web.