The Affordable Care Act, better known now as ObamaCare, was promoted to the public by Democrats as the solution for rising healthcare costs. But polls today show Americans are increasingly worried about the cost of healthcare and many have dropped their ObamaCare coverage because they can’t afford it.
Anna Wilde Mathews, healthcare analyst for The Wall Street Journal, tells us millions of Americans dropped their ACA plans after higher subsidies expired and now struggle to pay their medical bills. ACA enrollment fell by about 2.6 million as of February after enhanced federal subsidies expired.
To call the Affordable Care Act unaffordable is nothing new. I called it that in a blog post I wrote over ten years ago in 2015 (The Affordable Care Act is Unaffordable). The truth is ObamaCare has been a train wreck since the day it was passed without a single Republican vote. Why? Because it never lived up to its promises. Democrats, especially President Obama, was so eager to push new healthcare legislation that would move the country closer to socialized medicine that he told lies to sell the new legislation.
In my 2014 book The ObamaCare Train Wreck, I listed the broken promises made by President Obama:
- “I will sign a universal health care bill into law by the end of my first term as president that will cover very American.” (June 23, 2007)
- “I can make a firm pledge under my plan, no family making less than $250,000 a year will see any form of tax increase. Not you income tax, not your payroll tax, not your capital gains taxes, not any of your taxes.” (September 12, 2008)
- “We’ll lower premiums by up to $2500 for a typical family per year. . . We’ll do it by the end of my first term as president of the United States.” (June 5, 2008)
- “I will not sign a plan that adds one dime to our deficits.” (September 9, 2009)
- “If you like your doctor, you will be able to keep your doctor, period. If you like your healthcare plan, you’ll be able to keep your healthcare plan, period. No one will take it away, no matter what.” (June 15, 2009)
- On December 15, 2009, President Obama asserted the bill would “finally reduce the costs of health care.”
There isn’t space here to list the many ways these promises have been broken, but suffice it to say that all of these promises were broken. (The details can be found in my book.)
The reasons for the rise of healthcare costs are many, but the underlying fault with ObamaCare is that it is a “one size fits all” system where everyone must purchase the same coverage regardless of their individual needs. This is so extreme that men must pay premiums that include mammograms and woman must pay for prostate exams. No joke!
The solution to our rising healthcare costs is market-based reforms that push the right incentives and reward good health. This is doable except Democrats will resist anything that threatens to eliminate their precious ACA – because what they really want is socialized medicine. While ObamaCare is not yet socialized medicine, it is a large step in that direction. Medicare for All – the Bernie Sanders system being promoted by socialist candidates now – is even further in that direction. If you think our system is bad now, just wait until the Democrats deliver on their Medicare for All promises.
(Note: For more on Medicare for All see recent posts listed on my home page.)
