The Affordable Care Act and its False Assumptions
The Affordable Care Act was doomed from the beginning due to a false assumption in one of its main pillars, which was meant to provide universal health coverage even to those who could not afford it. According to Senator John McCain, who made this observation on NBC News, "Obamacare was doomed to fail, because it was based upon the concept that they would take money from healthy young people, and use it to pay for the healthcare needs of older, less healthy people." He went on to say that this did not work because "Frankly, young people didn't like that very much and no young person should like that very much." McCain finished his comments by stating “A transfer of wealth, just because of age, is not the way that it should work”. This, in essence, is the explanation in its entirety of why the Affordable Healthcare Act failed.
The Inevitable Collapse of Obamacare
Instead of driving down costs, as was expected, Obamacare has led to 20%-80% increases in premiums just to cover costs. As a result of the impending total collapse of Obamacare, millions will end up losing their healthcare, at least temporarily, and the U.S. government will be stuck with the bill for the cleanup and reinvention of a system to replace it.
The Lack of Understanding in the Legislative Process
This writer has always believed that Obamacare was doomed from the start when, then House Majority Leader, Nancy Pelosi famously said, “We have to pass this legislation so we can see what’s in it.” This writer’s first reaction to that statement was “Excuse me? You have no idea what’s in this bill that you are pushing so hard to pass?” Any legislation that is not read and understood completely by all members of Congress should not be put up for a vote at all. This is why this essay was titled “The Affordable Care Act: The Mother of All Unintended Consequences.”
Works Cited
NBC News. “John McCain Explains Why ‘Obamacare Was Doomed to Fail.’” YouTube. Uploaded by NBC News, 16 November 2016, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jA5qvgMgErE. Accessed April 16, 2017.
