What Happens to Health Care in California If Obamacare Stays In Place?
WESTWOOD (CBSLA.com) — What happens to health care in California if the Affordable Care Act stays in place, but the Trump Administration doesn't support it?
At UCLA's Health Care Policy Research Center, Director Gerald Kominski says two things will happen.
First, the president will likely not enforce the federal mandate that requires people to get health coverage.
"If younger, healthier people choose not to buy into the market because they don't have to pay the penalty, then their low costs are taken out of the pool and more people with high costs are taken into the pool," says Kominski.
And that means the cost of health care premiums and deductibles will likely go up.
Professor Kominski says the second thing that could happen in California if Obamacare stays in place is President Trump could put an end to a federal program that helps millions of low-income Americans pay their co-pays and deductibles.
"Instead of paying a $20 co-payment, you pay a $10 co-payment or a $5 co-payment. And instead of having a $2,500 deductible, you have a $1,200 deductible or $800 deductible," says Kominski.
President Trump said it's not his fault, or the fault of Republicans if his prediction that the Affordable Care Act will fail proves to be true.
Even a damaged Affordable Care Act, according to Professor Kominski, is better for California than any of the Republican plans that have surfaced so far because all of those plans call for very large cuts in Medicaid, a program which helps millions of people in California.
