Healthcare has been an important issue concerning the American people for a very long time. Concerns about healthcare and how a newly inaugurated President will tackle the issue rivals other equally important topics such as the economy, education, national defense, and foreign policy. During the last seven years, the American people have suffered under President Obama’s Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare. This administration intends to repeal this failed healthcare plan and replace it with a program which makes sense for the American people. The problems with Obamacare are numerous, and far outweigh the benefits to the American people and more succinctly, the American taxpayer. First, Obamacare requires that every American who can afford health insurance must buy it or be liable to pay a penalty. This is known as the “Individual Mandate”. The penalty for not obtaining health insurance is either a flat rate of $695 per adult and $347.50 per child (not to exceed $2085) or 2.5% of household income, whichever is higher (healthcare.gov, n.d.). This mandate is tantamount to government coercion and is a gross over-step of congressional authority. …show more content…
One of the touted benefits of Obamacare was that it would make health coverage more affordable for everyone. This is obviously not the case, as states like Georgia and Minnesota will likely see premiums rise over 30% of their current value (Bandler, A. 2017). Finally, the Obamacare mandate that everyone be covered by a medical insurer means that more sick and elderly people are seeking coverage, driving up costs of all health insurance across the board, including to the young and healthy. As the population continues to age, this problem will grow