Healthcare bill passes for show yet scares many
Proposed ideas leaves anyone with pre-existing conditions at mercy of the state
May 24, 2017
In an attempt to salvage some kind of legislative accomplishment within the first 100 days of Donald Trump’s presidency, Republicans in the U.S. House of Representatives passed a bill that would undo most of the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare.
The reason behind the healthcare bill has been argued as another one of Trump’s grudge matches with Obama, and that the ACA is one more Obama law he wanted to take down. The bill, in which many lawmakers acknowledged to not reading before voting on it, could harm an enormous amount of America’s populace if it becomes law as is.
One aspect of the bill that could have the biggest impact is its lack of full coverage for those with “pre-existing conditions,” which is a large group of people. The bill aims for states to be able to decide whether anybody with a pre-existing condition to not be covered by their insurance.
CNN published a list of the most common examples, but even that didn’t cover it all. For reference, some of the most notable conditions from their list are: AIDS or ARC, Alzheimer’s Disease, Anemia (Aplastic, Cooley’s, Hemolytic, Mediterranean or Sickle Cell), Anxiety, Arteritis, Asbestosis, Asthma, Bipolar disease, Cancer, Cerebral Palsy (infantile), Depression, Diabetes, Hepatitis (Type B, C or Chronic), Obesity, Organ transplants, Paraplegia, Parkinson’s Disease, Pregnancy, Sex reassignment, Transsexualism, and Tuberculosis.
We as the editorial board believe a system like this is too extreme and carelessly planned to cover those people who need the coverage most. The Republican healthcare bill is extremely harmful to a huge group of people.
It’s sad how something as essential as healthcare has become so politicized that it is more important for the Republicans to pass something — even if it is awful — just to score points with an extreme base of conservative voters. Ironically, many of the poor and rural people who voted for Trump could be hurt the most by this bill. Though, conservatives support it because they get to suppress those who have it worse than them. People who constantly disregard the existence of mental disorders and gender identity, have no right to use a bill to make their lives harder.
Some people say that this change is necessary because Obamacare had its flaws. However awed it may have been, this bill is not better. All it does is allow states to decide how badly they want to harm people, make insurance cover less and cost more. There is no way their plan is an improvement.
