DEMS/GOP/HEALTHCARE/OBAMACARE(ACA)/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “Democratic and Republican states are moving in opposite directions on health policy, leaving Americans with starkly divergent options for care depending on where they live.
The Trump administration and congressional Republicans, by easing many of the Affordable Care Act’s nationwide requirements after failing last year to repeal the entire law, are effectively turning major components of health policy over to the states. The roughly half of states controlled by Republicans are therefore moving aggressively to roll back the law widely known as Obamacare, while the smaller number of Democratic states are working to bolster it.
As a result, the health-care options in any given state are likely to depend on which party controls the statehouse. That dictates access, cost and coverage, particularly for the roughly 17 million people nationwide who buy their own insurance and the 29 million people who lack it entirely…
This divergence reflects a seismic rollback of the Obama administration effort to promote a more standardized, nationwide health system. The ACA sought to have the healthy help cover the costs of the sick and the wealthy help cover the poor, and it has led to about 20 million people gaining health coverage. But Republicans have long balked at the ACA’s idea of taxing higher earners to pay for health care and have opposed the law’s mandate that individuals who don’t get care through their job or through a government program get coverage or pay a penalty.”
-Stephanie Armour, “Red and Blue States Move Further Apart on Health Policy,” The Wall Street Journal online, Feb. 28, 2018 05:30am