the Presidential debate tackled the Affordable Care Act, commonly known as Obama Care. There are contrasting plans from the Presidential candidates.
President Donald Trump has long promised to repeal the Affordable Care Act. Right now, a court challenge, backed by his administration, is sitting in the Supreme Court.
There are concerns, now more than ever as the U.S. still hangs at peak of the COVID-19 pandemic, as to what will happen if the Supreme Court ax Obama Care. The possibility became more imminent after Trump announced his Supreme Court nominee, Amy Coney Barret.
Nonetheless, as CNN notes, Judge Barret swore during her confirmation hearings that “she had made no commitments to the President or anyone else” about her possible ruling on the ACA.
During the Presidential Debate, the issue of the ACA was one of the biggest arguments that Trump and Joe Biden had.
You have NO #HealthCare plan @POTUS @realDonaldTrump. All you want to do is destroy the #AffordableCareAct because it was created by @BarackObama @JoeBiden
— Michael Cohen (@MichaelCohen212) October 23, 2020
Unclear future for American healthcare?
Democrat Presidential candidate, Joe Biden, pressed Trump on not being able to explain his plans on replacing Obama Care. One of the biggest issues raised by the many, per Time, is how the repeal will gravely affect “133 million Americans who have pre-existing conditions.”
The President repeatedly highlighted that “pre-existing conditions will always stay.”
Yet, the public has been waiting since 2016 for his health care plan to replace Obama Care.
“It’s in court because Obamacare is no good,” Trump said. “No matter how well you run it, it’s no good. What we’d like to do is terminate it.”
He mentions that he will “come up with a brand new, beautiful health care.”
In some moments during the debate, Trump slammed Biden for not doing what he is promising now when he was the VP of the United States for eight years.
Yet until today, as heads to the finish line of his first term, he is yet to lay out a cohesive replacement proposal for the Obama Care. In fact, Business Insider points out that it has been almost 11 years now since the passage of the ACA, yet no “major Republican changes” are seen in the works.
“They’ve had 10, almost 11 years now, after passage of the Affordable Care Act to put in place an alternative, and they haven’t done it,” health policy expert Ezekiel Emanuel told the outlet. “They don’t have a plan.”
Bidencare: Democrat’s alternative plan
In contrast, Joe Biden explained what he will do should the Supreme Court does strike down Obama Care. He says, “[w]hat I’m going to do is pass Obamacare with a public option, it becomes Bidencare.”
“The Bidencare proposal will in fact provide for that affordable health care, lower premiums. What we’re going to do is going to cost some money,” says Biden.
Call it Bidencare. pic.twitter.com/Ng3Fvk4fpY
— Joe Biden (@JoeBiden) October 23, 2020
The former VP stresses out that health care is not a privilege, but a right. However, this only led Trump to accuse his rival of “promoting socialized medicine.”
Nonetheless, Biden clears out that his plans won’t eliminate private insurance. Instead, this will provide a “competition for insurance companies.”
Featured image courtesy of NBC10 Philadelphia/YouTube Screenshot