It may seem a bit laughable to some that Donald Trump is currently presenting himself as the person who saved Obamacare during his term. We must say it this way because if we look back at the past, we can remember how during Donald Trump's presidency, multiple attempts (more than 50) were made to eliminate, eradicate, or weaken the Affordable Care Act.
We suggest you read this post, since in the midst of such an important electoral campaign, the topic of health insurance in the United States gains more relevance every day, especially when more than 60% of the population currently supports this government health program.
Donald Trump's attempts to repeal Obamacare
The closest thing we have, and perhaps the most poetic, was in 2017, when at that time the then-Senator and former presidential candidate, John McCain —a Republican par excellence— a war hero who at that time had brain cancer, voted against Obamacare insurance being eliminated. But if we look back at history, there are numerous examples of how this government health program was weakened during Donald Trump's presidency:
- the advertising budget for the Health Insurance Marketplace in the United States was reduced by 90% (this has serious consequences, as many people still do not have enough awareness about the need for health insurance).
- reduced the health insurance enrollment period to 45 days (when Obama was in office, the enrollment period lasted up to 3 months, and right now with Biden in office, we also have it for practically 3 months. Let's remember that there are people who enroll at the last minute, and by extending the period, there is a greater possibility that more people will enroll).
- constant lawsuits: one of the latest and most important was that a major court in the United States ruled that Obamacare health insurance was unconstitutional, and this had serious consequences because Donald Trump, who was the president at that time, supported this major court resolution, leading to a legal litigation that lasted several months until the Supreme Court of the United States, after a fierce battle from the Democrats, then ruled that the Law was indeed constitutional.
- he pushed for short-term health plans, better known in English as short term plans, as the supposed replacement solution. But these health plans do not have ideal coverage, especially for sick people, because they have a high maximum out-of-pocket expense, a high deductible, and they also discriminate against pre-existing conditions.
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The protection of pre-existing conditions is a bulwark for the Affordable Care Act
The protection of pre-existing conditions is one of the main achievements of this government health program. Before 2010, a pregnant woman, a diabetic person, or a person with cancer, among many others, would most likely be denied coverage, because health insurance companies had an underwriter or qualifier who was in charge of deciding who qualified for health insurance and who did not. And in this case, even if you did qualify, they could increase your monthly price for having these conditions.
To give you an idea, in the United States in 2023, there were nearly 2 million people with cancer and around 38 million people with diabetes. These are undoubtedly too many people to leave without adequate health coverage.
In this regard, all health insurance companies are required, thanks to the Affordable Care Act, to cover sick people, no matter what illness they have.
Obamacare is more popular today than ever
An important point we must present to you is that Obamacare insurance is very popular right now, and we are going to present it to you with numbers. And it is precisely because of its popularity that Republican politicians, who have always opposed the existence of this Health Law, are currently using very soft, highly modified language around this law, because if they present themselves during their candidacy as intending to eliminate it, they will lose voters. That is precisely why they are talking about how they were the saviors of the law and that they are going to make it even better.
Polls have been conducted since 2012. As you can see in the Kaiser Family Foundation (KFF) study, in 2011 general opinion about the law was not favorable: only 39% of the population supported it. If we look at the year 2017, precisely when Donald Trump is taking power, we can already see how its popularity reaches practically 49%.
Let's remember that Trump is trying by all means to repeal the law, but the Democrats are starting to campaign strongly against its elimination, and the population is beginning to become aware, and as time goes on, popular acceptance increases.
When Joe Biden takes power at the beginning of 2021, Obamacare already has a 55% approval rating, and if we look at 2023, it has a 62% approval rating, and at this precise moment in 2024, we are at a 62% approval rating.
popularity of Affordable Care Act?
The popularity of the Health Law is due to multiple factors, among which we can summarize:
- pre-existing condition coverage
- Children under 26 can be on their parents' policies.
- inclusion of 10 essential benefits within the coverage
- Medicaid expansion
- Subsidies applied to monthly premiums and coverages
These issues have allowed for a considerable increase in the number of people with health insurance in the USA in recent years. We are going to illustrate this for you with some numbers so you can get an exact idea.
According to the Statista website, which gathers official statistics on the matter, the number of people enrolled in the Obamacare marketplace in 2014 was about 6 million, and about 4 million for Medicaid. However, these numbers began to rise considerably. By 2016, these figures were already at 11 million in each program, and in 2021, when Joe Biden takes office, there are already about 30 million people benefiting from both programs. Now in 2024, there are about 45 million residents in the United States who receive government subsidies to have affordable health insurance or free coverage, and of those, more than 20 million are enrolled in the Health Insurance Marketplace.
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With the Affordable Care Act The number of uninsured people has decreased.
Another very important element regarding the Affordable Care Act is the considerable decrease in uninsured people in the USA. To give you an idea, in the In 1997, there were approximately 41 million people without health coverage in the United States. If we go back to 2010, as we were emerging from the economic crisis, we're talking about 48 million people without health coverage, and since Obama took office, we've seen a considerable decrease in these numbers. (You can find all this data at⏭️ Number of uninsured people in the United States from 1997 to 2023).
As early as 2013, there were 44 million uninsured people. As early as 2014, there were 36 million uninsured. This continued until 2015, when Barack Obama was nearing the end of his term. In that year, there were about 28 million people without health coverage, a record at that time.
What happens is that when Donald Trump takes power, this line begins to reverse: already in 2017 there are 29 million without health insurance, and when we reach 2019, there are 33 million uninsured people. This means that the measures Donald Trump took to repeal Obamacare caused a greater number of people to start being left without health insurance.
Let's remember that during this time it was also in practice Public charge and people receiving government assistance who were in the process of immigration could be affected in their status. What they didn't know was that the health plan Affordable Care Act it did not fall into this category, as it was a tax credit granted depending on the income declared on taxes, it was not considered a help. However, thousands of immigrants in the process of migration canceled their health insurance policies for fear of being affected.
When Biden takes power, the number of uninsured people in the country begins to decrease considerably. In 2022, about 27 million people without coverage were registered, and in 2023 there are 25 million, an absolute record of people without health insurance. The measures taken by President Biden to expand Medicaid and offer greater credits within Obamacare have undoubtedly yielded great results.
Why does Donald Trump support Obamacare right now?
Trump has been an outspoken critic of Obamacare and, as we have demonstrated, on multiple occasions he has tried to eliminate it. However, starting in 2024, he softened his stance, indicating that he would not completely destroy the law. Instead, he now seeks to "make it better" and more affordable, focusing on improving certain aspects rather than seeking its total destruction.
This change reflects, perhaps, political opportunism, since the Health Law is so popular (with more than 60% national approval), talking about eliminating it at this moment could mean suicide for his campaign on such an important social issue. Let's hope his opinion remains consistent, and if he takes the presidency, he does not modify his criteria on Obamacare.
In reality, at this moment, it is much more feasible to correct and fix the defects in the Affordable Care Act than to eliminate it and establish a new law, as millions of people could be adversely affected in the process.
