Politics and the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act

The reelection of legislators has an impact on the efforts to repeal/replace the Affordable
Care Act (ACA). In 2017, such efforts failed, and this made some of the Republicans who had
previously highlighted their aim to support the repeal/replace efforts to change their stand
(Pollack et al., 2018). Democrats, whose previous efforts were directed towards supporting the
repeal/replace efforts, had changed their position and were not in full support embracing and
unifying against the other side of the political divide. Based on this, the reelection of
Republicans, for instance, is likely to lead to repealing/replacing ACA. If the ACA is repealed, it
is not clear what healthcare policy will replace it, and there will be significant changes to
healthcare policy. For instance, there will likely be an additional 24 million people who will not
have any healthcare coverage (Buettgens et al., 2019). Also, an additional 14.5 million people
will not have the Medicaid chip, while more 8.8 million people will miss out on the private non-
group coverage (Buettgens et al., 2019). Additionally, there will be 700,000 fewer people who
will not have any insurance coverage that will be provided through their employers (Buettgens et
al., 2019). The voters and taxpayers are likely to suffer after the efforts to repeal/replace of ACA
go through. There is significantly less healthcare that will be provided to low- and modest-
income families in the United States.
The votes’ views are likely to have a significant effect on decisions made by legislative
leaders in positioning or recommending national policies. For instance, regarding the ACA, it is
probable that in 2020, the platform of the Democratic party will resemble that in 2016
(Lambrew, 2020). The legislators are likely to build on the ACA, by opposing any motions
meant to repeal/replace it. On the other hand, if the Republicans will support the efforts to

repeal/replace ACA, then the direction taken will depend on the number of votes, and the side
that will be able to amass a higher number of votes. Likewise, Congress’ decisions affecting
Medicare or Medicaid will be made and will prevail depending on the number of votes that will
be cast, and the side which the majority will prefer. Consequently, the reelection of more
republicans is likely to lead to the success of efforts to repeal/replace ACA. Such efforts will
prevail because the decisions made by Congress will favor the opinion of the majority, and in
this case, it will support the side chosen by Republicans. Overall, it is evident that the cost of
electing leaders is replicated on the benefits that voters want. If Americans want the ACA to be
upheld, then this has to be reflected by their choices on the ballot.

References

Buettgens, M., Blumberg, L. J., Holahan, J., & Ndwandwe, S. (2019). The Cost of the ACA
Repeal. Urban Institute.
Lambrew, J. (2020). Getting Ready for Health Reform 2020: Presidential Campaigns. Retrieved
10 March 2020, from https://www.commonwealthfund.org/publications/fund-
reports/2018/jun/getting-ready-health-reform-2020-presidential
Pollack Porter, K. M., Rutkow, L., & McGinty, E. E. (2018). The importance of policy change
for addressing public health problems. Public Health Reports, 133(1_suppl), 9S-14S.