Its not perfect. I would have preferred a single-payer system, or at least one in which people had an option to buy into Medicare. And Im sure there will be some glitches as the federal government rolls out new insurance markets in 36 states starting next week. Anything this large and ambitious will need fine-tuning. That was the case with Social Security after it was introduced in 1935, and Medicare in 1965. But the Affordable Care Act -- now the law of the land -- is a step in the right direction. Doing nothing wasnt an option: Ours is the most expensive and complex healthcare system in the world that delivers poorer results and leaves a larger portion of the population without care than that of any other advanced nation. (One benefit already apparent even before the Affordable Care Act is implemented: healthcare cost increases are beginning to slow in anticipation of it. That means savings for almost every American already insured.) Well learn a lot more in coming months and years. And as with Social Security and Medicare, what needs fixing can be fixed. If it turns out we dont like it at all, we can repeal it -- the same way we occasionally repeal other laws, through an orderly process of legislating. But some Republicans want to repeal the Affordable Care Act before we even try it, threatening to shut down the government and not pay the nations debts if the rest of us dont go along. Why dont even want to try -- and why are they threatening to hold the whole government hostage if they dont get their way? They must fear that once fully implemented, the Act will prove immensely popular, as did Social Security and Medicare. Republicans had bitterly opposed both of these acts of Congress as well. Fortunately for the rest of us, they didnt try to gut them before they were implemented.
Posted on: Thu, 26 Sep 2013 18:57:04 +0000
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