UC Merced Undergraduate Research Journal

The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, abbreviated as PPACA or ACA, was enacted by former President Barack H. Obama on March 23, 2010. The purpose of creating this welfare is to make more people have better insurance. After six years of implementation, in 2016 the people covered by this plan were estimated from 20 to 24 million, representing the most influential healthcare policy after Medicare and Medicaid laws passed in 1965. Asserting that the policy will harm the economy, President Donald J. Trump eliminated the individual mandate of purchasing insurance, allowed states to remove insurance to unemployed people, and reduced governmental subsidy of purchasing insurance, which significantly decreased the number of people insured. Critics of Obama’s version of the ACA have claimed that such policies will harm the economy, increase debt, and severe unemployment (Manchikanti et al., 2016). However, after analyzing data, economic theories, and current economic situations, it was concluded that this policy will provide $1 trillion of spillover revenue to the economy, pay off all the previous debts, and increase employment (Furman, 2015). Therefore, Obama’s 2010 original ACAshould be re-implemented. Also, to maximize the positive impact on the economy, Obama’s original version of the ACA should provide more financial assistance. The proposed policy for the 2021 healthcare plan contains the following: To mandate the government, employers, and individualsto provide or purchase insurance, as well as to cancel the Bronze class in the ACA and increase the coinsurance rate of all other classes for 10% each. This policy issue is important as it will improve the living conditions ofmillions of people; and will positively influence the economy. In the following contents, Obama’s 2010 original ACA policy will be abbreviated as “original ACA”, and Trump’s 2017 ACA will be abbreviated as “2017 ACA”.