Come January — provided vote counts don’t change — there will be a Democrat in the White House and a Republican-controlled Senate.
So what does that mean to the average American?
Well for one thing, it will mean no more 2 a.m. Tweets, said John Kilwein, chair of West Virginia University’s Political Science Department. And, perhaps, a return to normalcy.
“[President-elect Joe Biden] will re-establish our relationships with our traditional allies,” Kilwein said in an email. “He will deal with national and international problems using science and agreed upon facts and data. He will work with the federal bureaucracy rather than attacking it as some sort of ‘deep state’ anti-democratic force.”
Kilwein said once Biden is in office, he will attempt to enact more “liberal-Democratic” policies, and be thwarted by the Republican Senate.
“Stalemate in the Senate,” he said. “A lot of executive orders from the White House, and a conservative/Republican Supreme Court that will generally side with the Republicans in partisan battles and in social/moral debates.”
Chris Plein, a WVU public administration professor, also said President-elect Biden will be more inclusive with his governing style.
“President Trump’s approach to governing can be characterized as ad-hoc and purposively disruptive, challenging established norms and expectations of the presidency,” Plein said. “I believe that President-elect Biden will seek to re-establish norms in a number of ways.”
Health care
Plein said affordable health care will be an issue as the new administration attempts to rebuild trust with the nation especially with the ongoing legal challenges to the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare. The issue is currently before the U.S. Supreme Court.
“The ACA allowed states like West Virginia to expand Medicaid eligibility in recent years,” Plein said. “Arguably, those 36 states that expanded Medicaid have been better positioned to deal with the pandemic than others. The massive job losses associated with the pandemic has meant that many lost their employer-based health insurance. Medicaid has provided a backstop for these and other individuals.
“We can expect that ensuring health care coverage and access will continue to figure prominently in policy discussion in coming months,” he said. “We can anticipate that the Biden administration will seek to preserve, protect and build on the reforms that were adopted under the Obama administration.”
Bob Duval, an associate professor in the School of Public Health, said if the ACA is repealed, the impacts would be enormous and could mean:
- Insurance companies can exclude coverage due to pre-existing conditions.
- Dependents will no longer be able to remain on their parent’s insurance coverage to age 26.
- The expansion of Medicare will be limited, which will affect West Virginia.
- The insurance marketplace set up by the ACA will disappear. Companies will be able to change coverage at the end of the year.
- Insurance companies can again implement lifetime caps and coverage.
- Insurance companies will be able to drop clients at will.
- Employers will not be required to provide health insurance and a number of provisions for protecting children’s health services will disappear.
“This is not to say that all of those things will disappear or occur immediately, but rather that there will be no government constraint that prohibits a company from making these very consequential decisions affecting (an) individual’s coverage,” Duval said in an email to The Dominion Post. “The protections of the ACA disappear.”
Vice president
When Biden is sworn into office Jan. 20, he will be 78 and the oldest president in American history. It could also mean Kamala Harris will have a high profile in the coming years, Plein said.
“On the campaign trail, President-elect Biden emphasized his achievements as vice president in making his bid for votes,” he said.
Kilwein said he, too, expects Harris to play a major role in the new administration, similar to what Biden did with President Obama.
“First, presidents vary greatly in terms of how much they use and rely on their vice presidents,” he said. “President Obama worked very closely with his vice president, Joe Biden, and Biden has made it clear he’ll do the same with Kamala Harris. Second, Harris brings extensive expertise and experience to the job; county prosecutor, (attorney general) of the largest state, and senator. Third, Harris’ ascent to the vice presidency has profound political impacts.”
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