UCLA faculty voice: The fate of Covered California under President Trump [View all]

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UCLA faculty voice: The fate of Covered California under President Trump

No state has embraced the Affordable Care Act more, leaving millions uncertain about their future health care

Gerald Kominski | December 20, 2016

Gerald Kominski is director of the UCLA Center for Health Policy Research. This op-ed appeared in the Los Angeles Times.

No one knows exactly what Donald Trump’s pledge to “repeal and replace” the Affordable Care Act means. The hints, however, are troubling. No state has embraced the ACA — Obamacare — more enthusiastically and successfully than California. And no state has more to lose with Trumpcare.

California’s programs won’t be gone overnight. Despite campaign promises to the contrary, it is virtually impossible to repeal Obamacare on day one of the Trump administration. The Senate filibuster rule, which requires 60 votes to move legislation forward, provides Democrats with a mechanism to block a complete repeal effort. And there would be an enormous backlash against an immediate, abrupt repeal. More than 20 million Americans are newly insured under Obamacare, and many congressional leaders, including House Speaker Paul D. Ryan, understand the very real political costs of throwing them under the bus. So Obamacare is likely to continue through the end of 2017, and perhaps 2018.

The question is, what comes next? The Trump campaign was short on details. Suggestions included promoting health savings accounts linked to high-deductible health plans; allowing insurance to be sold across state lines in an effort to increase competition and thus affordability; and allowing everyone to deduct health insurance premiums from their taxes...

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http://newsroom.ucla.edu/stories/ucla-faculty-voice-the-fate-of-covered-california-under-president-trump

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