Obamacare undermined

Submitted by Matthew on 13 December, 2017 - 10:49 Author: Rhodri Evans

As well as legislating for a big redistribution of income from workers to the rich, the US Republicans' "tax reform", now (mid-December) being pummelled into final shape to unite versions from the two houses of Congress, undermines "Obamacare".

Socialist Worker (US) reports that the "reform" promises "a further crisis of the health care system caused by the repeal of the Obamacare mandate requiring individuals to buy insurance.

"From the point of view of the insurance companies, the ACA [Obamacare] exchanges put them in the position of offering policies to too many "high-risk" consumers [with] chronic or serious health conditions compared to "low-risk" customers who need only minimal care.

"The ACA's solution to this problem for the health care industry was the "individual mandate", which requires most Americans to either purchase health insurance or pay a tax penalty.

"Insurance providers such as Aetna and UnitedHealth had already decided - before Trump came along - to add extra uncertainty - that the system wasn'92t profitable enough... UnitedHealth made the decision to exit the ACA exchanges last year..."

Without enough companies in the exchanges, the system collapses. The number without health insurance in the USA (around 30 million) has already started rising again, even before the mandate repeal.

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