Texan Mosaic

by BRITTNY STEGALL//Opinion Editor

Donald Trump is going to take away the one thing that is keeping Americans afloat.

If Obamacare is repealed, it will leave millions of families without affordable health care. Obamacare has impacted families, senior citizens, college students, and women.

This health care helps senior citizens pay less for Medicare coverage and for their prescription drugs. It has also helped many Americans to receive free contraceptives, mammograms, colonoscopies and cholesterol tests. Obamacare has even helped small business employers to make sure they are not slapped with outrageous premiums.

Since before President Trump’s election, he has vowed to repeal Obamacare as quickly as he can. He has kept his promise by signing an executive order to start the process of repealing Obamacare.Instead of rushing into something that might cost Americans their future in healthcare benefits, he needs to stop and realize the impact it can have on the American family.

Repealing Obamacare would likely result in having higher premiums, as well as deductibles for millions of senior citizens and disabled Americans who are enrolled in the program. It will also bring back Medicare’s infamous “donut hole,” which was when there was a temporary limit on what the drug plan would cover for prescription drugs. The gap starts when a limit is reached for a certain amount for covered drugs. Obamacare was said to be able to eliminate that gap completely by 2020. Obamacare was made for the people of America to enable them to feel stable in their health care coverage.

This health law has reduced payments to Medicare Advantage plans and improved benefits for people enrolled. Studies by the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office have shown that repealing Obamacare would increase Medicare spending by $802 billion over 10 years.

Medicare enrollees under Obamacare receive free screenings for breast and colorectal cancer, heart disease and diabetes. Repealing this would make those benefits disappear, leaving Americans without that safety net.

Obamacare has also provided millions of women with health services. Obamacare has ensured that women get equal health care rights to improve women’s health services. To be exact, it has given 47 million women access to definite preventive women’s health services. It gave women the benefits to get free wellness visits and protected them against gender discrimination. Obamacare provided screenings, domestic and interpersonal violence screening and counseling, and FDA-approved contraceptive methods, among many other services. Taking Obamacare away would not be good for women in America.

Trump has also planned to defund Planned Parenthood, because of the abortion factor. People need to realize that abortions are not what Planned Parenthood is about. It gives millions of low-income men and women something to lean on for reproductive health services, education, and information. Planned Parenthood services include adoption, birth control, men’s sexual health, sexual orientation counseling, women’s health, and many others. Obamacare expanded funding to Planned Parenthood. Eliminating Obamacare could very well leave men and women of all races nowhere to turn to.

Obamacare is not a bad thing, like some make it out to be. It has numerous benefits to the health care act. President Trump needs to take a step back to look at how repealing Obamacare will affect our country and the people who live in it.