Mary Blair and her husband wait for a doctor's appointment at the Breathitt County Family Health Center in Kentucky, a state that has seen major changes through Obamacare. The future of the healthcare law is unclear. (Getty Images) The Chicago Tribune
Thirty-million Americans with pitchforks, half of which are the white working class, President-Elect Trump's supporting block, will spring into action if their health insurance is taken away by the Republican controlled US House and Senate.
The repeal and replace drumbeat has persisted for so long that many low and middle class republican supporters have been deafened by the fact that they are benefiting from the very law that they are seeking to repeal. What is even more risky for these supporters is that their very life could eventually hinge upon Obamacare (Affordable Care Act) itself.
Thirty-million Americans are now protected against Insurance companies discriminating against preexisting medical condition persons. Children can now stay on their parents health insurance until age 26. Since the inception of Obamacare, healthcare spending has been on a downward spiral. Insurance companies are profiting and creating jobs. We are no longer an “employer based health insurance Nation.” Big business can no longer coerced employees to work under harsh conditions with the hanging threat of losing health insurance coverage.
A solid contra argument that Republican leaders use is that premiums of some Americans are rising. However, these premiums are not rising arbitrarily, they are being raised by these hugely profitable insurance companies. It is critical to note, that premium accelerations were happening prior to Obamacare and will continue to rise in a free market society, until the "invisible hand" of the market drives down and stabilizes prices. In any marketplace, prices are greasy going up and sticky coming down. So think it not strange that this occurs under Obamacare. These are the facts, not the hype.
Vice President-elect Mike Pence, center, joins House Republican leaders Rep. Cathy McMorris Rogers, Speaker of the House Paul Ryan and Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy for a news conference following a GOP conference meeting at the U.S. Capitol Jan. 4, 2017, in Washington, about discussing plans to repeal and replace Obamacare. (Chip Somodevilla, Getty Images)
Let me hasten to add, Obamacare is far from perfect. What is being lost in the mayhem is that the health of the healthcare market is far better than what it was prior to the institution of the Affordable Care Act. Nonetheless, most "parking lot" literal constitutionalist argue that the mandate portion of the Affordable Care Act is unconstitutional. It is a fair argument. We can also argue that Medicare and Medicaid are mandates and unconstitutional. The current Supreme Court ruled on the Affordable Care Act and it did not strike down the legislation as unconstitutional. Insurance companies are taking advantage of Obamacare by finding loop holes to undermined the law, and increase profits thereby. Markets always behave in such manners. We can contemplate instituting regulations to close loopholes, but it will be a temporary fixed until the market finds new loopholes in the new implemented regulations. No law is perfect. As mortals in a capitalistic society we must do the best we can in an imperfect democracy.
Inherently, health insurance is for people who cannot afford to pay for healthcare, therefore the risk is transfer to an insurance company to pay on the behalf of the wealth deprived persons. Billionaires and multimillionaires do not carry insurance. Trump and many of the inherited wealthy do not know what a healthcare card looks like. They don’t need it. When they get sick, or need a check up, they pay for it. Ninety percent of Americans are not so lucky. The constitutional argument is favorite of the privileged few, and they have employed healthcare carrying cardmembers to make their argument. Many of the working class faithful and strict constitutionalist are unaware of the true invisible hand in the insurance market.
It is fruitless to argue against healthcare insurance for yourself, unless you are one of the lucky wealthy not in need of insurance. Even more so, it is pointless and destructive to argue for the purity of a constitution that was created by impure mortals. We strive for a more perfect union, and it will always be a striving not a completion.
The Chicago Tribune
What are we to do with Obamacare? Fair-minded Democrats and Republicans alike both know that the Affordable Care Act needs care. The Republican Governor John Kasich rightfully stated “There’s room for improvement of Obamacare, but to repeal and not to replace?” he said Wednesday. “I just want to know what’s going to happen to all those people who find themselves out in the cold.”
So, Republican leaders, you now have Obamacare, you cannot pretend to repeal and replace, when you can only, at this point, rename and improve. To try anything more the working class pitchforks will be at your door.
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