1. What comes after the ACA?
The majority of Republicans have condemned the Affordable Care Act (ACA) since it was conceived in the early Obama years and have adamantly said that it will be the first thing to go once Trump’s presidency begins. But what will the 20 million people covered under the ACA do once it goes away? The repeal of the ACA still leaves Americans with a potential rise in health costs. About 18 million people could lose their insurance, according to a recent Congressional Budget Office study.
Medtech industry professionals are waiting to see what will happen, given the unpredictability of Trump’s administration, before taking any action in preparation of the ACA being repealed.
Trump’s healthcare reform plan has been vague in the past. He has said he will make “insurance for everybody” and his plan would come “in a much simplified form.” His campaign website states that he wants to replace the ACA with Health Savings Accounts and a patient-centered health system that gives patients the choice, quality and affordability that they need.
Rep. Tom Price (R-Ga.) is Trump’s nominee for Health and Human Services secretary. States know their populations better than the national government knows them, and Americans would benefit more from state-relegated health insurance than national regulation, Price told the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee on Wednesday. He stressed the importance of access to insurance for everyone and “a system that works for patients.”
Gregory Dennis says
Whatever changes the new Administration and Congress make to the ACA will inevitably be known as Trumpcare. And that seems to have given them great pause. Latest analysis is that they won’t do anything to the ACA this year, because it’s a complex set of programs and changing it will have many ripple effects — both on the healthcare industry and everyday Americans.
I hope we can refrain from big changes in the ACA for the sake of patients who would love coverage under many of the proposed changes, and for the sake of businesses, which need certainty and are facing great uncertainty if the ACA is repealed without a clear and sensible replacement.
Chris Newmarker says
Thanks for the comment, Gregory. Good points.