The Patriot Post® · Five Huge Problems With ObamaCare
In Donald Trump’s Address to Congress last night, he made much of repealing ObamaCare. “Mandating every American to buy government-approved health insurance was never the right solution for America,” he said. “The way to make health insurance available to everyone is to lower the cost of health insurance, and that is what we will do.” He laid out the guiding principles for reform: “First, we should ensure that Americans with pre-existing conditions have access to coverage, and that we have a stable transition for Americans currently enrolled in the health care exchanges. Secondly, we should help Americans purchase their own coverage, through the use of tax credits and expanded Health Savings Accounts — but it must be the plan they want, not the plan forced on them by the government. Thirdly, we should give our great state governors the resources and flexibility they need with Medicaid to make sure no one is left out. Fourthly, we should implement legal reforms that protect patients and doctors from unnecessary costs that drive up the price of insurance — and work to bring down the artificially high price of drugs and bring them down immediately. Finally, the time has come to give Americans the freedom to purchase health insurance across state lines — creating a truly competitive national marketplace that will bring cost way down and provide far better care.”
Most Americans at this point know that ObamaCare isn’t all it was cracked up to be. But do they know just how bad it’s been? Hudson Institute senior fellow Jeffrey Anderson explains, “In passing Obamacare, its supporters promised the moon. Obamacare was allegedly going to cost $938 billion over ten years, result in 23 million people getting insurance through its exchanges as of 2017, reduce the typical family’s premiums by $2,500 a year, and make sure that if you liked your health plan and doctor, you could keep your health plan and doctor. Seven years later, Obamacare is projected to cost $1.938 trillion over ten years (exactly $1 trillion more), only 9 million people have insurance through its exchanges as of 2017 (just 40 percent of the original CBO projection), the typical family’s premiums have exploded, and millions of people who liked their plans lost their plans, as Obamacare effectively banned them. Many of them lost their doctors as well.”
That’s pretty bad. Anderson also lays out the five worst things about the law.
It denies Americans choice and undermines their liberty.
It denies Americans affordable health insurance.
It raises federal spending by about $2 trillion when we’re nearly $20 trillion in debt.
It fuels the unseemly alliance between Big Government and Big Business.
It consolidates and centralizes power and money.
That’s all why repeal is so critical. Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker made just that case, saying, “This is an important issue because I don’t think we can reiterate enough, ObamaCare is collapsing. The Affordable Care Act is no longer affordable, and not me or any of these [Republican] governors … but a Democratic governor said that last year. It is collapsing right now and to show compassion [toward] our fellow citizens, we’ve got to do something about it. That’s why we’re on top of it.” Let’s all encourage our elected representatives in Congress to repeal this monstrosity.
(Updated after Trump’s speech.)