Thursday, November 14, 2013

Even Obama Doesn't Want Obamacare Anymore


America, let's get honest about Obamacare.

First, let's admit that Obamacare is a miserable failure. No matter the benchmark or metric, the result is the same. When it comes to expanding access and affordability of health insurance for Americans, Obamacare expands government into the private market too much, and it's too expensive. And it is totally unacceptable for the law to deprive millions of Americans of health insurance they chose and paid for, even though they were told that if they liked their doctor and their health plan, they could keep them.

Second, let's get real. Obamacare might be a failure, but we think it's no accident. We're as cynical as the day is long, but even we don't think the government is capable of bungling a rollout of a major program so badly. Heck, if there's anything the Obama Administration is usually good at, it's making untested, bad ideas seem like they're fantastic (like they did with Obama's own candidacy in 2008).

No, Obamacare is no accident. Rather, it is a deliberate attempt to shift public opinion away from confidence in the private marketplace and toward the policy Democrats revere as the Holy Grail of politics -- single payer health care. Such a move was unthinkable in one bold step; just ask Hillary Clinton, who tried it and failed. Instead, Democrats realize the wisdom of convincing people first that there is a need for expanded coverage and access (hence Obamacare), then convincing people that a single-payer system is the last resort to fix the broken system without retreating back to doing nothing, especially if insurance companies can't be trusted to handle the market privately (according to the President). We predict you will see Democrats start floating single-payer health care proposals in earnest right after the mid-term elections -- particularly if they pick up seats in Congress. And, the process of pivoting started today, with the President starting to admit problems with Obamacare's implementation but pinning them on insurance companies and the private market, not the law itself.

Third, and most important, we think the health care debate needs to focus on something nobody seems to be talking about anymore. The best way to fix health care in America is to improve the American economy. It seems simple, but the truth is that if more Americans had jobs and if companies had more money, health insurance would be more accessible to more people in the private marketplace. That's what America needs most right now .

So, if you're like us and you want to see real improvement in health care without either Obamacare or a single-payer system, stand up! It's time to fix our economy. It's time to get people back to work. It's time to make money and help people afford insurance in their own right, with plans they choose and doctors they select. That's the American way.