Was the PPACA healthcare reform ("Obamacare") good? Pros and cons

The PPACA, known as "Obamacare", was both heavily criticised and strongly defended. Do the pros of this reform outweighed its cons? Was President Trump right repealing it? Vote and discuss!

Repeal of Obamacare

On May 4 2017, the Republican House passed a bill to repeal the Patient Protection Care the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA), commonly called the "Obamacare". President Trump made the repeal of Obamacare one of his central campaign promises. After much congressional struggle the opponents of the law seem to have scored a major victory by narrowly approving legislation to replace major parts of the Affordable care act. 

Since its enactment in March 2010, Obamacare has been one of the most discussed policy issues  during the past Obama administration. It also became one of the central issues during the 2016 presidential campaign.  This reform meant a significant overhaul of the US healthcare system. It sought to increase the quality and affordability of health insurance. However, "ObamaCare" was both heavily criticised and strongly defended. Pharmaceutical companies, private health organizations, insurance companies, politicians and citizens have all debated whether this reform will be good or bad for the US.

Citizens were divided because they know this reform had an asymmetrical impact on their lives according to their socio-economic status and medical conditions. Some people claimed that PPACA saved their lives, other that because of Obamacare many private insurance policies were cancelled putting into jeopardy their healthcare. The success in terms of enrollment in the program, produced a decrease in more than 16.4 millions the number of uninsured Americans. However, the popular support for Obamacare was not pervasive due to some of the side effects is also triggered. We discuss here some of its advantages and disadvantages of Obamacare below and invite you to vote and participate on our discussion forum sharing your ideas and perceptions.

Pros and cons of Obamacare

Pros of Obamacare were:

• It gives access to affordable, high-quality health insurance to millions of people who previously could not afford it.
• It helps reduce the number of people accessing the emergency room (ununsured people used to go to the hospital for their primary medical needs).
• It focuses on prevention, therefore reducing the number of expensive treatments in the long run.
• It increases the number of families qualifying for Medicaid and allows tax credits to the families who don't.
• It gives more protection to children, as they cannot be denied coverage for preexisting health conditions.
• There may be a period of great uncertainty for patients after the repeal of Obamacare until a clear alternative is implemented.

These are some of its cons:

• Some of the measures such as preventing testing and care are very expensive and may imply a huge increase in medical spending in the next few years.
• In order to finance Obamacare, taxes were increased on people with higher revenues and some deductions have been reduced.
• Medical companies and pharmaceutical companies were supposed to pay more taxes, which could likely make the price of drugs and medical services increase.
• The price of insurance policies would also increase to compensate the new coverages.
• The end of the Affordable Care Act creates a window of opportunity for new more imaginative solutions to American healthcare system problem.

What do you think about the Obamacare. Are you among its supporters or detractors? Why? Do you find problematic the PPACA concept or its implementation?  Should the next government push this agenda further or make a u-turn?

Vote to see result and collect 1 XP. Your vote is anonymous.
If you change your mind, you can change your vote simply by clicking on another option.