A Simple Guide to Key Politics

Healthcare

Healthcare: a controversial problem because it directly affects every American. There are a few political issues blanketed under healthcare, including extremely touchy ones like abortion, which Democrats and Republicans are very divided on.

The Affordable Care Act

The Political Issue

This act, more widely known as Obama Care, extended coverage to approximately 20 million Americans, according to Politico (politico.com).

This was done as an effort to provide more coverage to the uninsured. Obama Care allows more Americans access to affordable healthcare by offering discounts, also known as tax credits, to consumers on government-sponsored health insurance plans, according to ABC News.

The ACA- Affordable Care Act- also expanded the Medicaid Assistance program so that more people who don't have healthcare in their budgets can be included.

Obama Care proceeded to change some rules for insurance companies, so Diabetes and other pre-existing conditions that could formerly exclude you from plans, can't anymore.

Some people, majority being Republican, disagree with this act because you only qualify for the tax credits that offset health insurance costs if your household income is between one and four times the Federal Poverty Level. If you don't fall within this income range, you can still purchase your insurance plan from the federal insurance marketplace, you just won't get the discounts.

Still, you may get a good deal, and according to Pollitz, it's worth checking out.

Conservatives and libertarians traditionally object the government getting more involved in our health care system, so that explains 81% of Republicans reacting negatively to the ACA. Another reason conservatives tend to disagree with Obama Care is because it has been one of the root causes of entitlement spending increasing so much, and the ACA is believed by the Congressional Budget Office to be responsible for 44% of future increases in entitlement spending.

One more reason that Republicans are fighting to reverse this act is that Americans are paying more for less coverage, meaning that under Obama Care, instead of paying higher deductibles for lower premiums, you end up paying more when you get your hospital bill, according to Kaiser.

Still, the advantages of the ACA are also clear, and have been stated above.

Joe Biden

Joe Biden wants to build on the ACA's foundation. He believes that, while the system is not perfect, it could be improved, and there could potentially be a public option added.

Donald Trump

Since the 2016 election, President Trump has been hard at work to repeal and replace the ACA. His efforts have included passing a law in 2017 that reduced the penalty for not having health insurance to $0, allowing states to require Medicaide beneficiaries prove they are working or going to school, and allowing more people to buy insurance, even though they don't meet the ACA's original standards.

Prescription Drug Prices

The Political Issue

Prescription drug prices have proven to be outrageously expensive, and it is extremely prominent for conditions including cancer and multiple sclerosis. According to the Commonwealth Fund (commonwealthfund.org), "a recent poll found one in four adults in this country is worried about the high cost of prescription drugs, and David Mitchell notes some are not taking medication as prescribed".

Joe Biden and Donald Trump's Views

So, in this specific scenario, Joe Biden and President Trump actually have very similar views. They both agree with linking the prices of certain pharmaceutical therapies with those that are much cheaper in other developed countries.

Abortion

The Political Issues

Republicans and Democrats are usually very divided on this political issue because Republicans tend to be "pro-life", while Democrats tend to be "pro-choice".

By definition, abortion is the termination of a pregnancy after, accompanied by, resulting in, or closely followed by the death of the embryo or fetus, as explained by Merriam- Webster.

Republicans argue that abortions should be illegal because, according to Republican Views (republicanviews.org), "an unborn child, like any individual in this country, has an individual right to life that should not be infringed upon by others". One of the main reasons they disagree with this practice so much is because they consider it to be murder, which Democrats don't necessarily.

The left typically believes that terminating a fetus, which science proves that based upon gestational age, cannot feel pain until the third trimester, is much different from killing a child or adult.

Democrats believe that women should have the right to choose, since it is their body from their perspective. They also use reasoning such as how some women are not financially stable enough to raise a child, especially if the male companion is no longer dedicated to helping raise said child, and putting another helpless kid into a broken system of 400,000 already helpless kids does more harm than good.

Republicans counter this point by saying that if a woman is not ready to accept the possible consequences of having sex, she should not be having sex, which isn't completely illogical, but as humans, having sex is pretty inevitable. It's a natural part of life. So, the answer to that is to use contraceptives.

Let's look at some contraceptive statistics.

Typical use of a contraceptive injection for women is 94% effective, meaning approximately 6 in 100 women will get pregnant in a year.

Typical use of the contraceptive patch for women is 91% effective, meaning around 9 in 100 women will get pregnant in a year, and typical use of the vaginal ring is around 91% effective as well.

Perfect use of the contraceptive pill is more than 99% effective, while typical use is around 91%.

Male and Female condoms are 98% effective with perfect use, and 82% effective with typical use, which includes the occasional breaking of a condom during sexual intercourse.

I use the typical use as the indicator most of the time because humans are naturally flawed, and perfect use of any of these methods is rare, which I'm not excusing, I'm simply stating.

Lastly, many people argue that abortion should be illegal, and I understand why, but the truth is, it may change things for the worse. Similar to gun control, making abortions illegal would only result in "back-alley" abortions, which is exactly what happened when abortion was illegal previously.

Many women had their fetus terminated anyways, but with it, they were also molested by bad doctors, and they couldn't say anything because getting the abortion was illegal in the first place. That is why most supporters of legal abortion believe that, while abortion is a terrible thing that is extremely tricky to navigate, making it illegal would cause problems just the same.

So, with all things considered, it is clear why both sides have the opinions they do. Let's take a look at the 2020 Presidential Candidates' views.

Joe Biden

Joe Biden believes that there should be some limits to abortion regarding the late terms of pregnancy, and these limits should be strict, unless the woman's health or life is at risk.

Donald Trump

President Trump has expressed support for banning all abortions, except in the cases of rape, incest, or danger to the mother's life.