Affordable Care Act

Affordable Care Act
Student’s Name:
Institution:

Affordable Care Act
The Justice Department has moved to term to key portions of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) as unconstitutional. The current administration believes that the preexisting condition in the ACA is unconstitutional. The ACA had ensured that Americans could be given health insurance covers by insurance companies regardless of their medical history (Scott, 2018). If the identified conditions are declared unconstitutional by the courts, then the insurance will be able to deny Americans medical cover based on their medical history (Harnik, 2018). The insurance companies would also be able to charge higher rates on older and sicker people.
From a health policy perspective, a reason for the current administration taking the position could be the financial burden it has on the government. The ACA provides federal subsidies to Americans who have difficulty in affording medical insurance cover. Due to the federal subsidies, the private insurance market can guarantee medical coverage to every American. To cover the ACA federal subsidies, the government has had to increase taxes. Also, the ACA federal subsidies have made healthcare cheaper for millions of Americans. Cheaper medical care means reduced quality of medical care.
Apart from the federal subsidies, ACA required Americans without medical insurance to pay a fine. However, the Congress repealed this provision of the ACA starting in the year 2019 (Goodnough, Pear, & Savage, 2018).

This means the government would not be able to collect ACA fines as a source of revenue to support the program. The government would have to acquire financial resources elsewhere to support the ACA federal subsidies. This provides another reason for the government to take such a position. It is this action of the Congress to repeal the fines that triggered action from the current administration to consider the act as unconstitutional (Harnik, 2018).
References
Goodnough, A., Pear, R., & Savage, C. (2018). Trump’s New Plan to Dismantle Obamacare Comes with Political Risks. Retrieved from https://www.nytimes.com/2018/06/08/health/obamacare-pre-existing-conditions-mandate.htmlHarnik, A. (2018). Sessions takes aim at heart of Obamacare — coverage for pre-existing conditions. Retrieved from https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/justice-department/sessions-takes-aim-heart-obamacare-coverage-pre-existing-conditions-n881396Scott, D. (2018). The Trump administration believes Obamacare’s preexisting conditions protections are now unconstitutional. Retrieved from https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2018/6/7/17440120/obamacare-penalty-lawsuit-trump-brief