Last December, I posted a blog entry titled "How Health Care Reform Has Benefited Me" . . . and it was a blank post. Well, since then, I've been able to acquire public medical insurance thanks to the Affordable Care Act. Never mind how, that's as personal as my credit card information. But I have been able to get a checkup and a flu shot because of it.
But for how long will I have it? It seems as if the Republicans will be in control of both houses of Congress come January, and "Obamacare" is numero uno on their hit list. After more than fifty votes to repeal it in the House, a Republican Senate led by Mitch McConnell (who, alas, is likely to win a sixth term this fall) will join in the fun. (Don't expect a Democratic filibuster; Republicans will likely re-interpret the rules of the Senate to prevent the Democrats from even being able to threaten one.) Sure, President Obama will veto any attempt at repeal, and the veto will be sustained, but what about after 2016? Hillary Clinton seems too centrist to win the Presidency in 2016, never mind be trusted with Obamacare, and the Democrats lack appealing alternatives. (Also, Bernie Sanders and Joe Biden are too old.) Even if Obamacare becomes more embedded in the political landscapes, what's to stop the Republicans from tearing it out by the roots when they take over everything? That, of course, is nothing new for the GOP, as anyone who remembers history knows. (Senator Henry Cabot Lodge I [R-MA] said in 1921 of the reversal of Democratic President Woodrow Wilson's policies by Republican President Warren G. Harding that Wilsonian policies had been torn out "by the roots.")
There's a reason you don't see anyone campaigning on Obamacare in the midterm elections - it remains unpopular. That's because a majority of Americans had health insurance before the law was passed and would still have it were the law to be repealed, and a majority of those who have health insurance without aid from Obamacare like what they have. Columnist David Brooks has said that the law is politically a loser even as it's brought down health care costs for . . . everyone.
I'd better enjoy my coverage while I have it.
Posts
2 comments:
Steve, I'm with you on this. I worry about what's gonna happen with this health care thing, and I've had decent coverage long before it was installed. We need it, but it may not last for long, when the peanut-head Republicans take over.
We have to hope Obama is able to keep the ACA alive well into 2016 and that Hillary Clinton is a stronger candidate than she appears to be.
Post a Comment