Ryan Ellis of the Washington Examiner analyzes the impact of Trump administration policies on the Affordable Care Act‘s restrictions.
Ever since efforts to legislatively repeal Obamacare ended ignominiously with a “thumbs down” from the late Sen. John McCain on the Senate floor, the Trump administration has been hard at work doing what they can to give families more and better healthcare choices than what Obamacare saddled them with. In so doing, they have created several welcome escape hatches from Obamacare, or what Phil Kerpen from American Commitment calls “Making Obamacare Optional.”
It goes without saying that Obamacare has been a lousy deal for families like mine which are forced to buy non-employer Obamacare market health insurance but make too much money to qualify for Obamacare’s tax credit to subsidize premiums. Between 2013 and 2017, average premiums for Obamacare plans doubled in price. As a result, Obamacare insurance plans are totally unaffordable. For example, my family is currently enrolled in one of the least expensive options in Virginia, and we have to pay $16,000 per year in premiums for “coverage” which begins after meeting a $13,000 deductible. Talk about junk insurance.
Step one in helping families like mine get an alternative to this health insurance nightmare was repealing Obamacare’s individual mandate to purchase Obamacare insurance. It’s not widely reported, but Congress permanently repealing the Obamacare individual mandate was a seminal plank of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. Doing so opens up all sorts of alternative options for families to consider.
