Obama set the trap, and the Republicans fell into it nicely. I pointed out from its inception that Obamacare, the Affordable Care Act was designed to morph into single-payer Medicare for all, a form of socialized medicine. What I did not expect was that Republicans would make it a quicker reality with their evil attempts to destroy it.
I explained in the article “Obamacare Is The Path To Single-payer Universal Healthcare” that Progressives should not worry too much about the loss of the Public Option because they designed Obamacare to morph.
During the Affordable Care Act debate there was a public option that would have simulated the latter. Lobbying summarily got it removed because had it made it into the Act, over a short period of time, arithmetic would prevail as the public option would be less expensive for any given plan. It would then turn Obamacare into a single payer system by attrition.
There are several different pathways to reach the same goal. It is however important that the paths are built. Obamacare is the path built with pebbles and stones. It is better than the mud path of years past. As riders demand a smoother path they won’t yearn for the mud path again but for a paved road. Americans will not go back after tasting healthcare/health insurance as a right with all the benefits mentioned above. Exchanges will become single payer entities as health insurancecompanies are unable to demand the profits they want. Eventually exchanges will morph into Medicare for all.
The genius of Obamacare is not that it solved the problem in its entirety. The genius is that it made reverting to an immoral system untenable.
Republicans over the years have been trying to destroy the Affordable Care Act directly and indirectly. When Trump came into office, he turned up the evil. He cut the budget for advertising and navigators, the folks who help folks through the signing up process. The expectation was that much fewer people would sign up. It did not materialize for the Republicans.
An excellent article in the New York Times titled “Years of Attack Leave Obamacare a More Government-Focused Health Law” is probative.
President Barack Obama’s signature domestic achievement is becoming more like what conservatives despise — government-run health care — thanks in part to Republican efforts that are raising premiums for people without government assistance and allowing them to skirt coverage.
By ending the tax penalty for people who do not have coverage, beginning in 2019, Republicans may hasten the flight of customers who now pay the full cost of their insurance. Among those left behind under the umbrella of the Affordable Care Act would be people of modest means who qualify for Medicaid or receive sizable subsidies for private insurance.
“Republicans have inadvertently strengthened the hand of Democrats like me who prefer richer subsidies to a mandate and welcome the expanded federal role that will come with those subsidies,” said Joel S. Ario, a former insurance commissioner from Pennsylvania who worked in the Obama administration.
But here is a kicker that those who think healthcare belongs in the capitalist market. Remember, the private sector populates marketplaces. The public sector manages Medicaid, the socialized portion of our economic system.
While the marketplaces, or exchanges, have struggled with a series of problems since they opened in 2014, Medicaid, administered by an experienced corps of state officials, has gone from strength to strength. Public appreciation for the program has steadily increased as people come to understand its importance in the health care system, including its central role in combating the opioid epidemic.
And how is the morphing going to occur?
“It seems to me that the exchanges will evolve into an extended form of government coverage very much akin to Medicaid,” said J. B. Silvers, a professor of health care finance at Case Western Reserve University, in Cleveland. Increasingly, he said, “those who are not subsidized will drop out because of the high prices, and those getting the subsidy will still see great bargains,” after taking account of the subsidies. …
In some ways, Medicaid is more generous than commercial insurers. The benefits are more comprehensive, and coverage is nearly free, with beneficiaries required to pay only nominal amounts.
Americans left out precisely because of government policy will not remain an underclass for too long. After all, those affected the most are in the individual market, small business owners, contractors, etc. These are people who vote and could provide the tipping point for many Congresspeople.
So just maybe Americans will owe Republicans a sarcastic “Thank You” for bringing America closer to a single-payer Medicare for all socialized health care system. They may even remove the false fear many have towards the word “socialize” or “democratic socialism.” After all, the best system is one that knows what to socialize and what to privatize, not a system that tries to fit every aspect of our lives into one corrupt system devoid of humanity.