Ever wanted life to get a whole lot harder?

Starting out life can be difficult for most young adults, with growing collage debt and house rent no one can keep up with; the list goes on. Has anyone ever thought of adding to that growing list of debt? because medical professionals sure do! The Republican party and other's alike wish to remove what is called the "Affordable Care Act"(ACA). If the Government is to remove the ACA, there will be dire effects to young adults and others alike. The ACA cannot be easily removed whether the government wanted to remove it, at least not without consequences. Whether related to the individual market or young adults. We should not remove the ACA, instead people must consider what exactly is the effect for its removal.

Let’s talk about consequences like sky-high bills and financial burdens, though one must know what the ACA is. The Affordable Care Act was implemented in 2010 by President Obama, with the intent of the act to require medical insurance to cover basic medical needs such as lab tests, emergency visits, etc. Quite frankly the ACA sounds wonderful, though the Republican party and those who think alike desire to remove or flat out replace the ACA.

 An example of what consequences to removing the ACA would be, "leaving many college graduates and others with no insurance" (CMS.gov Par. 1) Most people don't think too much about insurance, not until they need it. For a young college student, a medical bill calling for lab tests or a cast for a broken leg can be a setback. Furthermore "Nearly half of uninsured young adults report problems paying medical bills"(CMS.gov Par. 4) Imagine if the ACA were to be removed and a student in collage has type one diabetes. This student has both insulin and tuition fees to pay. Their income is cut in half, prompting the student to get two jobs day and night if it means prevent crimpling debt and life dependent insulin. That isn’t fair at all, this instance can be levitated so long as the ACA remains. If the downfall of others relying on this life saving insurance is not enough to prove a point, then consider this. 

How does substantially recking the individual market or mass drop out of insurance companies sound because I doubt more economic turmoil is what anyone wants.

 After all the less a service is available, the higher the prices go. For instance, "individual insurance market in hopes of adding customers as they gained experience with the ACA marketplaces would likely pull out of the individual market under the “repeal and delay”"(Par. 5) To explain, many insurance companies have cooperated with the ACA, gaining customers through it. However completely removing the act will mean many of these companies will pull out, leaving a large gap in the market. Why is this terrible? Well, there is now less “services” thus prices are bound to rise. Such a scenario would in turn lead to this: "without the law’s significant subsidies or mandates, the individual market is very likely to enter a 'death spiral.'"(Rivlin Par. 13) A death spiral sounds threatening, and it sure is, to one’s wallet in fact. I mentioned raised general payments, but there are also premiums. See what allows the insurance companies under the ACA to function is the government gives them subsidies. The ACA is what gives out these payments to the companies, without them premiums will be raised. Whether or not a person owns insurance or not, it will overall be expensive to keep up with every month. Not ideal if you don’t plan on going into debt. Though one must consider, why do people oppose the ACA?   

Considering the opposing side of things. Many argue the ACA requires too much taxpayers funds, that the funds can be exploited or used wrongfully. Though one must consider the hypocrisy of this statement.  When people pay taxes, it goes into various things, such as social security or military. 

Speaking of the military, back in July 2023, a hearing of the military head of spending wea made about its spending on Viagra, specifically "the military spends roughly $41.5 million per year on Viagra." To quickly point out, Viagra is commonly used to deal with erectile dysfunction, and this money is mostly given to older veterans. So, it acts as a sort of Medicare to say the least. So why are people fine with the US Military spending our tax money on Viagra, but the ACA is pushing it too far? The ACA covers lifesaving medication that thousands of people use every day. After all, let's take into account this, "Before the ACA, more than 100 million Americans with pre-existing health conditions could have been denied coverage or charged more…"(The White House Par. 6) Is this what people want to happen again? To be in desperate need of medical attention yet unable to afford the coverage needed to get some simple help. Such a possibility terrifies me as a college student with a near poverty household. If a member of my family were to become ill, then I can say goodbye to college or risk creating debt that could spiral my own life into a pit of no return. No one wants to go through this; so why put less fortunate people into this pit.   

Removing the ACA will leave lasting effects on the young adults and the pricing made by insurance companies. Young adults, whether pursuing college or attempting to get a house mortgage, will lose access to health aid with the loss of the ACA. Not to mention the loss of the ACA will only raise the prices of premiums and overall payments to insurers. Pilling all of this together will only weigh heavy financially on young adults barely starting out life. 

Don't let congress make this decision a reality, instead why not voice your opinion about this topic? The best way to that is by heading over to this website, “How to contact your members of Arizona Legislature (azcentral.com)” Here on this website it is for those living in Arizona, by following the links stated in the first paragraph you can find what district you live and then find the phone numbers and emails of house of representatives/senators. Tell them how you feel about the possibility of removing the ACA; just remember to be polite and concise. 

Reference

The White House, Fact Sheet: The congressional Republican Agenda: Repealing the Affordable Care Act and Slashing Medicaid. February 28, 2023. FACT SHEET: The Congressional Republican Agenda: Repealing the Affordable Care Act and Slashing Medicaid | The White House, Accessed April 9^th.

Rivlin M. Alice, Adler Loren, Butler M. Stuart, Why Repealing the ACA before Replacing it Won't work, and What Might. December 13, 2016. Why repealing the ACA before replacing it won’t work, and what might | Brookings, Accessed April 9^th. 

Young Adults and The Affordable Care Act: Protecting Young Adults and Eliminating Burdens on Families and Businesses. 2023. Young Adults and the Affordable Care Act: Protecting Young Adults and Eliminating Burdens on Families and Businesses | CMS, Accessed April 9^th.  

American Military News, Congress Women Calls Out Military’s $41 million Viagra Budget Per Year. July 14, 2023. Congresswoman calls out military's $41 million Viagra budget (americanmilitarynews.com). Accessed May 5^th.