Health policies should be based on facts, not politics. Unfortunately, the opposite seems to be the trend.
Policies don’t always match up with the facts, especially when it comes to health policy.
For example, Obama passed the popular Affordable Care Act (also referred to as “Obamacare”) during his first term, which increased eligibility for health insurance (20 million fewer Americans are uninsured between 2010 and 2020). That means more people could get health insurance when before people were denied insurance due to things like pre-existing conditions. But, when Trump took over the reins at the White House, he attempted to get rid of it, claiming that he had something better: Trumpcare. While Trump ultimately was unable to repeal the ACA, he did make substantial changes that caused uninsurance rates to rise during his presidency. In fact, the uninsurance rate was on a downward trend from 15.5 % in 2010 to 8.6% in 2016, which then started to rise to 9.2 % in 2019. (Note: This upward trend was not a byproduct of the pandemic because the trend was evident before 2019.)
During Biden’s administration, there was a “patchwork approach to the issue”, meaning the aftermath of COVID-19 was dealt with using temporary stopgaps rather than permanent solutions to address how expensive healthcare in the US is. For instance, there was a temporary expansion of Medicaid in 2021 which covered 21 million more people. However, in 2023 this expired, which led to a loss of coverage for 19.6 million people. These facts point to needing a permanent solution, not simply a temporary one.
At risk under yet another Trump administration are, fact-based policies (which were successful mind you) passed by the Biden-Harris administration, such as a $35 cap on insulin for Medicare Plan D and B individuals with diabetes. With Trump’s insistence on reversing successful policies, there is a very real possibility he would either remove the cap or alter the progress made under the Biden-Harris administration. Between 2018 and 2019, about 26 million people above 18 years old had diabetes, the cap on insulin should logically be expanded to not just Medicare individuals but as a standard price for all the American people. In fact, with the Republican Party having already rejected Biden’s plan to expand this cap to those with private insurance, it is likely that Trump will try to reverse this $35 cap.
The problem does not lie within one side of the political spectrum, rather it lies in how the people in power seem to make policies based not on facts but on politics. What we need is healthcare policy independent of politics.
No matter who is in office, the government has a responsibility to ensure that people have access to the care they need. The healthcare system needs to ensure fact-based timely care. One example is the 65 + expansion in New York that could have saved lives if passed sooner, according to Emily Hodgkins, who works as a Staff Attorney with LegalHealth, a division of New York Legal Assistance Group, and focuses on the intersection of immigration law and health law. The government not only has to act with facts, but it also needs to act quickly!
Another example of how healthcare is influenced by politics and not by facts is how immigrants, specifically the undocumented, don’t receive the same healthcare benefits that legal residents in the USA receive from paying taxes.
In an interview with Hodgkins, she noted that it is not uncommon for undocumented immigrants to pay taxes. She explained: “It is a gap in our justice system that undocumented people pay taxes but don’t get the benefits. An example we see is how undocumented people can give organs, but not receive organs.”
Undocumented people contributed $96.7 billion to the nation’s economy in 2022. These people should reap benefits for paying into the system. Unfortunately, the politicization of health care policy in this country will not allow this. It is ironic – and completely absurd – that we are willing to harvest the organs of the undocumented but we are not willing to give them organs. How inhumane is this?
Shouldn’t policy be made using stone cold facts as opposed to politics?
Anvitha Tammisetti is a senior at Hunter College, majoring in Political Science, pursuing a certificate in Public Policy, and minoring in German. She is also a JFEW Scholar. Her research during undergrad span from South Asian politics/society to health policy in the United States. Throughout her college career, Anvitha has interned with various non-profits and with different parts of the New York state government. Her work in non-profits were in the areas of immigration, health, housing, voting, and more. Currently, Anvitha is interning with a non-profit in the area of global health policy research. She is also interning with a personal injury law firm. She aspires to attend law school and pursue a career in law. Alongside continuing to work in health policy, and/or keep researching South Asia.
