Obamacare Returns to Spotlight Before Election

The outcome of the election between Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump and Democrat Kamala Harris could have an impact on the cost and type of health insurance for more than 40 million Americans enrolled in the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare, according to KFF Health News.

While Harris has vowed to expand and strengthen Obamacare, Trump and vice presidential nominee J.D. Vance have talked about making changes to improve on or alter it in a way that would provide more choice, KFF said in its analysis.

"You want to make sure that preexisting coverage — conditions — are covered, you want to make sure that people have access to the doctors that they need, and you also want to implement some deregulatory agenda so that people can choose a healthcare plan that fits them," Vance said in a Sept. 15 interview on NBC's "Meet the Press."

His comments, in addition to Trump's statement during the Sept. 10 debate with Harris that he has "concepts of a plan" to change or replace Obamacare, invited criticism.

The Committee to Protect Health Care last week released a letter signed by 1,500 physicians across the country urging Trump to release more details about his plan before the Nov. 5 election.

"The clock is ticking, Mr. Trump, and Americans and their doctors deserve to know whether you have an actual plan that will keep Americans safe, healthy and secure," read one part of the letter.

Addressing Vance's "deregulatory agenda" phrase, the physicians wrote: "In other words, they would take away protections for people with preexisting conditions and put them into so-called high-risk pools. Putting people into high-risk pools will take us back to the bad old days when insurance companies could discriminate against people with pre-existing conditions like diabetes and asthma and even pregnancy."

Not so, said Paragon Health Institute senior fellow Theo Merkel, who told KFF that the Trump plan has "been blown out of proportion for political purposes."

Merkel said adding short-term plans to coverage options would give consumers more affordable options, especially those who don't qualify for subsidies.

Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., told NBC News this month that if Republicans win the White House and control Congress, the GOP would be able to "make healthcare more affordable, more tailored and more personalized than the one-size-fits-all option."

"We'll have an opportunity next year, when it comes time to extend the Trump tax cuts, to adopt new policies that again will make healthcare more affordable and more personalized," Cotton said.