The Affordable Care Act has been a political topic since 2010. When President

 
The Affordable Care Act has been a political topic since 2010. When President Obama first enacted this act there were many debates on how it would be effective and what it would look like for different taxpayer classes. Health and Human Services defines ACA (Affordable Care Act) as, “The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, referred to as the Affordable Care Act or “ACA” for short, is the comprehensive health care reform law enacted in March 2010” (HHS.gov, 2022). Legislators have since had to decide whether to support the ACA. The cost-benefit analysis affects the potential for re-election for legislators. They have had to balance the possible advantages and disadvantages of repealing the ACA when it came to re-election. 
There are three factors that legislators took into consideration when deciding how the cost-benefit analysis would affect their decision to repeal the ACA. The first factor was constituent opinion. Legislators need to consider constituents’ opinions on the ACA. Supporting the repeal might have been seen as a benefit unless in an area where the ACA was well-received and supported. Being in a place where the ACA was supported, a legislator would want to show support for the act rather than supporting it being replaced.  
The second factor is the re-election prospects. Legislators’ stance may align with the majority opinion which would increase their chance of re-election. If their stance did not align with the majority opinion their chances of re-election would decrease. This was a gamble that legislators had to take regarding the repeal of the ACA. The third factor is party alignment which goes along with re-election prospects. This is because supporting the majority party is seen as a benefit and will increase the chances of re-election vs going against the majority which would decrease the re-election chances.  
Analyses of voter’s views greatly affect the decisions that legislators make. As stated by the Health, Policy and Politics textbook, “Clearly, election results determine who will hold office, who will be the president or governor” (Milstead, J. A., & Short, N. M. 2019).  This statement proves that constituents hold all the power and is the driving force of legislators’ decisions. Legislators used different ways to receive feedback from the population. When deciding on policies they seek feedback by surveys, public opinion polls, and town hall meetings. Considering voters’ views when endorsing policies helps legislators not only get re-elected but decide if these policies will benefit the population.  
If legislation creates a policy that is not supported by the public, it will not receive the support that’s needed, and it will not get voted for. The views of the voters are the driving force when discussing policies. Legislators aim to balance constituents’ expectations with different policies they believe will better the population because their goal is to be re-elected while supporting the well-being of the nation’s population.  
For example, “The first attempt by Congressional Republicans and the White House to advance the American Health Care Act (AHCA) in the House of Representatives as an ACA replacement was unsuccessful” (Willison, 2017). This was because the majority of the population did not want the ACA to be replaced. This statement by Willison proves how much power constituents hold and why legislators make it a goal to analyze where they stand and what they will vote for.  
References: 
Milstead, J. A., & Short, N. M. (2019). Health policy and politics: A nurse’s guide (6th ed.). Jones & Bartlett Learning. 
Willison, C. E. (2017, August). Repealing the affordable care act essential health benefits: Threats and obstacles. American journal of public health. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5508159/Links to an external site. 
Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs (ASPA). (2022, March 15). About the ACA. HHS.gov. https://www.hhs.gov/healthcare/about-the-aca/index.htmlLinks to an external site. 
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