Everyone is talking about how President Donald Trump’s new replacement for Obamacare is going to impact ordinary people. Right now it’s hard to tell because we have few details. But what we do know is that the repeal of Obamacare is going to create some significant changes to the healthcare market.
We’re going to take a look at how Trump’s new healthcare can hit you.
Premiums Can Go Up
The repeal of Obamacare essentially makes it open season for insurance companies all over again. In general, premiums are expected to rise because insurance companies can begin to discriminate to a greater extent again. This may even lead to some people not being able to get any coverage at all.
The forewarning, however, is that individual states have to make decisions as to whether they go with Trump’s plan or maintain the Obamacare market (as Ohio has already done).
Pre-Existing Conditions Could Make Life Difficult
The biggest danger of the healthcare plan is that you could experience huge premiums if you have any sort of pre-existing medical condition. Take Humana dental insurance as an example, if you happen to have an existing oral condition your insurer may decide that they no longer want to insure you at your current rate.
You need to be aware of this so larger premiums don’t come as a surprise.
Essential Benefits Could Disappear
Under Obamacare there’s a list of 10 essential benefits insurance companies have to provide as part of their plans. The new healthcare plan allows individual states to decide on what constitutes an ‘essential benefit’. If certain illnesses are removed from the list, insurers could disproportionately punish specific groups, based on the amount of perceived risk they present.
More Uninsured
The argument against the Trump healthcare plan has always been that premiums are going to rise significantly. Another huge problem is that the number of Americans without any health insurance at all is expected to go up by millions. This is a problem because it means that American society is going to get sicker and more emergency rooms will be forced to treat people knowing that the bill is never going to be paid.
High-Earners Will Get a Tax Cut
Finally, if you happen to earn over $200,000 per year, you will no longer have to worry about paying healthcare taxes. Trump announced that this tax, which was brought in to help fund the plan, will be completely removed. However, Speaker Paul Ryan judged, that without this tax money it would be impossible to fund the healthcare bill and so he delayed the tax cut for six years.
Last Word – Trump Healthcare is a Step Backwards
Trump healthcare does come with some benefits if you fall into a specific group. But the bad far outweighs the good. Obamacare did have its problems, but ultimately it provided millions of Americans with healthcare access they wouldn’t have otherwise received.
Only time will tell as to whether this plan goes into law in its current form and whether it will be a good thing for ordinary American people.