ACA Anniversary and History
This article was written on the ninth ACA anniversary of The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. President Obama signed it into law on March 23, 2010. The law, which remains the law of the land, is more commonly known as the Affordable Care Act (ACA) or by its nickname, Obamacare. Here’s what Congressman Adam Schiff (D, California) said about it:
Nine years ago this week, something remarkable happened: The ACA was signed into law.
As a result:
- 17 million Americans gained health coverage
- 130 million Americans with pre-existing conditions could stop worrying about losing their insurance if they got sick
- Women could no longer be charged more than men for the same coverage
- Young people could stay on their parents’ health insurance until the age of 26
- And much more.
There is a lot more to be done to improve upon the ACA, and to make health coverage universal. But the ACA was a reminder of what government can do to help make people’s lives better.
I’ll never forget what President Obama said on that day. “Today, we are affirming that essential truth… that we are not a nation that scales back its aspirations.”
Or what Joe Biden said that day: “This is a big …. deal.”
And I’ll never forget what Speaker Nancy Pelosi said: “But our fight is not over yet.”
Each one of those observations has turned out to be true. And they inspire me to say, let’s remember our potential as a nation and vow to keep fighting to reach it.
ACA’s Rocky History
PRE-ACA: The New York Times provides this timeline of nearly 100 years of legislative milestones and defeats up until the ACA.
ACA UNDER OBAMA: This next article presents key events under the Obama administration leading up to the passage of ACA and changes made afterwards.
REPUBLICAN SABOTAGE: And then here is a chronology of nine years of sabotage.
This video starts in the middle, as Obama came to office, but you can restart from the beginning.
In this next video, late night comedian John Oliver uses satire to poke fun of Republican efforts to repeal and replace Obamacare. Even with two years of total control of the Presidency, House, Senate, and Supreme Court, they were unable to do that.
Even with control of the Presidency, House, Senate, and Supreme Court, Republicans have been unable to repeal the Affordable Care Act and replace it with anything better, although they got close to replacing it with the American Health Care Act (AHCA). That was before Senator John McCain returned from brain surgery to give his famous “thumbs down” vote. In a statement issued after his vote, McCain said he supported replacing Obamacare but objected to the highly partisan skinny repeal, which “offered no replacement to actually reform our health care system and deliver affordable, quality health care to our citizens.”
The following video by Dr. Don Berwick compares the ACA and AHCA. Berwick is a former Administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. Prior to his work in the administration, he was President and Chief Executive Officer of the Institute for Healthcare Improvement a not-for-profit organization.
So what would have been the impact of the AHCA had it passed? According to the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office analysis, 14M fewer Americans would have health insurance in 2018, 21M fewer by 2020, and 24M fewer by 2026. That would leave a total of 52 million people without health insurance. If you believe Harvard Medical School researchers who studied mortality rates among people without health insurance, you might freak out that 25% would die unnecessarily as a result. That’s over 10 million people and one reason Democrats are pushing Universal Healthcare. This next video explains that in more detail.
So what’s next for US healthcare?
While many on the left are pushing for Medicare-for-All, I don’t think any single-payer system goes far enough. To cover everyone and save $2 trillion/year, which I continue to say its possible, we must first understand Why American Healthcare is So Expensive in the first place and then have the political will to take on the wealthy special interests. Truly, Unbreaking Healthcare requires unbreaking our politics.
Happy Birthday Obamacare
Understanding Obamacare includes many more reference links, articles, and videos to help us better understand the law and its impact.
RELATED MHEALTHTALK ARTICLES:
People Like the ACA, so it’s hard to Repeal. Here’s why.
It’s not surprising that so many people like the ACA (Affordable Care Act), and that it’s been difficult for Republicans to repeal and replace it. This article compares the ACA (Obamacare) with the AHCA (Republican’s American Health Care Act). It highlights 12 reasons people like the ACA with detail in supporting charts that compare it with the AHCA.
American Health Care Act, a Summary & UPDATE
Understanding the full impact of this Republican healthcare bill is difficult, given the mixed spin from both political parties, and the fact that most articles just describe one aspect of it or another. The purpose of this post is to pull it all together and include a summary page you can print as a reference.
Republican Sabotage of Our Health Care System
The Trump Administration first refused to commit to making cost-sharing reduction (CSR) payments and failed to commit to enforcing the individual mandate, putting the integrity of the risk pool and affordability of coverage in jeopardy. His obvious attempts to manufacture a crisis caused uncertainty in the marketplace and prompted insurers to sharply increase premiums or pull out of the market altogether.
After Trump’s 2017 tax bill removed the individual mandate penalty, Texas led a 20-State lawsuit arguing that without the mandate the entire ACA must be struck down. Judge Reed O’Connor, a partisan Texas federal judge, agreed and gave Republicans a gift that has now gone to the Supreme Court of the United States. But if SCOTUS upholds it, the impact would be severe. Republicans still don’t have anything to replace it with.