The benefits of the Obamacare repeal.

Few years ago, a little after the Affordable Care Act was enacted, things began changing in California and most of the other United States. With time, millions of Americans became insured either through subsidies or by being forced to purchase policies in the new health care market.

The expansion of Obamacare — thanks to new provisions that allowed many people for new coverage — was also good for businesses. From doctors offices to clinics and hospitals, patients began flocking medical facilities in order to take advantage of their newfound service. Additionally, the new law turned into an employment opportunity for many who, before the law, could have not keep a job. The health subsector of the economy began blossoming.

In Imperial County, since the law was enacted in March 2010, the Educational and Health Services sector of the economy has increased by 20 percent, climbing from 8,000 to 9,600 jobs, according to figures from the California Employment Development Department.

The same state agency reports that five of the seven fastest growing occupations for the next decade in our area are healthcare-related. Licensed practical and licensed vocational nurses, medical assistants, dental assistants and medical secretaries are expected to grow between 25 percent and 37.5 percent. The icing on the cake is nursing assistants, with an expectation of growth of 50 percent in job opportunities.

While the health care community was a lot happier with the flourishing than our president on election night, others were sadly crying given the impact Obamacare caused in their industry.

The ACA, for some, created options to access medical services for Americans, for others a sharp guillotine for their businesses. Although a good chunk of health care services are still acquired south of our border, before Obamacare the Mexican medical tourism industry grew thanks to the lack of insurance policies available for U.S. residents. Without the protection given by these policies, uninsured Americans were forced to obtain expensive services on our side of the frontier or cross to Mexico and get the same services for a slashed price.

Mexicali’s medical tourism cluster, for example, offers today even air trips from Las Vegas and taxi services from the Abelardo L. Rodriguez Airport straight to the medical facilities or hotels. If a patient wants to bring a companion, that second customer gets a discount in hotel rooms and even in medical services. In this business, all Mexicali companies are involved and no stakeholder is left behind. It’s an extraordinary winwin thing. From as close as Brawley and Indio to as far as Alaska, patients have experienced Mexicali health care services.

The Health Care Act introduced by congressional Republicans repeals the provisions of penalties for those who decided to stay uninsured or otherwise were forced by Obamacare to purchase insurance. The bill would also cut the federal deficit by almost $900 billion in the next decade while reducing the cost of premiums.

But by leaving millions of Americans uninsured again others are well prepared to welcome back those members of a captive market lost a few years ago. If I was the owner of a clinic in let’s say, Mexicali, I would be impatiently waiting for the conservative party to get rid of that socialist-like program and begin attracting all these new customers and make “Cachanilla” medical tourism industry great again.