“Obama’s Health Care Debacle”
Eight years ago, I said, “The major problem with Obama’s Affordable Care Act (ACA) is that it is not affordable.” Today, that is truer than ever, for both the individual and the government. Although we have been told that we have the best healthcare system in the world, we know that we rank in the middle of the pack when compared to other industrialized nations, even though we pay about double the amount per capita, as does any other nation. The U.S. spends trillions a year or about 16% of the gross domestic product on health care. Congress has approved the first step toward dismantling President Barack Obama’s health care law. The ACA belongs entirely to the democrats, which passed it against the majority of the states and the citizens. Now, in 2017, republicans have pushed a budget through Congress that provides an early but crucial victory in the effort to “repeal and replace” the ACA. Obama’s ACA delivered health coverage to about 20 million people but is saddled with problems such as rapidly rising premiums and large co–payments. According to Senator Paul Ryan, R-Wis, “The law is collapsing. The insurers are pulling out. People can’t afford it. The deductibles are so high it doesn’t even feel you have insurance in the first place.” Republicans want to end the fines that enforce requirements that many individuals buy coverage and that larger companies provide it to workers — mandates that experts say were needed to stabilize insurers’ rates.
