(Washington Insider Magazine) -After implementing one of the most monumental healthcare acts of the decade with the Affordable Care Act, former President Donald Trump and his administration tried to eliminate everything it protected. Under President Biden, however, the ACA is trying to gain ground again.
Due to the constant efforts of the Trump Administration, the ACA is not like it was 10 years ago. According to Time, it has managed to get the individual mandate ruled unconstitutional, allowed plans that skirt ACA coverage requirements, slashed funds that helped people sign up for insurance, and imposed new regulations on Medicaid – such as new premiums and work requirements.
Under Biden, instead of starting from scratch, he plans to “build on the ACA by giving Americans more choice, reducing health care costs, and making our health care system less complex to navigate.”
The ACA has not only added 20 million people to its insurance, setting the record for most uninsured citizens by 2016, but it has also protected over 100 million Americans with pre-existing conditions from receiving additional costs to their insurance.
While the Trump Administration successfully got rid of some of the ACA’s policies, the Biden Administration is countering that with the American Rescue Plan Act, which has lowered healthcare costs and expanded coverage for millions of Americans through the ACA.
“More than 1.2 million Americans signed up for coverage under the law through a special enrollment period I established during this pandemic,” Biden wrote in a statement in June. “I look forward to working with the Congress to build on this law so that the American people will continue to have access to quality and affordable health care.”
Since June, over 2.5 million Americans have signed up for coverage, according to the Associated Press. The cost of coverage went down in April due to coronavirus assistance, allowing more people to enroll.
While the ACA is not the same as it was when it was first implemented because of the Trump Administration, President Biden is at least trying to get it back to how it was before.
Links:
Affordable Care Act in Biden Era: Identifying Federal Priorities | Commonwealth Fund
10 Years Later, Obamacare’s Complicated Legacy Continues | Time
Biden made ‘Obamacare’ cheaper, now sign-up deadline is here (apnews.com)
