A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away — 2010, to be precise — the Affordable Care Act became law. Known as Obamacare, it was sold by President Barack Obama and his administration as a miracle cure for the ailing healthcare system, promising affordability, access, and a new golden age of healthcare.
Instead, what was delivered looked less like a cure and more like a bureaucratic hostage situation covered in biohazardous material. Obamacare took a system that was already straining under government meddling and wrapped it with enough federal red tape to make the European Union twitch. Not to mention the barrage of absolute lies.
“If you like your doctor, you can keep your doctor,” was perhaps the most infamous of all, named as Lie of the Year by Politifact in 2013. Then there were the promises that people could keep their plans, after which millions lost their coverage; that premiums would fall by thousands of dollars (they increased and have continued to increase); and that people would have more access to care — when hundreds of thousands of providers opted out of Obamacare plans.
The result? Crashing websites, insurers drowning beneath regulations, and premiums weighing on the public like a ton of bricks, while the protection of those with preexisting conditions saddled the young and healthy with the bill, forcing them to subsidize a system they not only barely used but from which they would potentially never benefit.
In the 15 years since the passing of Obamacare, Republicans have correctly declared that it has been a complete and utter disaster. For a while, this was enough. But no longer.
Let’s not forget that socialist Zohran Mamdani was just voted to be mayor of New York City in large part because of his platform of affordability, while the same is true of other Democrats who, in response to the economic struggles of everyday people, are presenting themselves as the affordability candidates.
There is an affordability crisis. Of course, just because the problem is real does not mean that communism is the solution, but as Republicans continue to do nothing put shake their fists at the teenage Affordable Care Act, voters are being presented with the choice between a bad solution to a problem and no solution at all, beyond “Obamacare is bad.”
Yes, Obamacare is bad, but the Republican Party needs to determine what its actual healthcare policy is — something they have been promising is just around the riverbend for 15 years. The Republican Party needs to cut to the heart of why Obamacare failed and offer a platform that addresses the core problems at the heart of American healthcare while protecting what makes it, for now, great.
Affordability is achieved through actual competition, quality is achieved through free market incentives, and accessibility is achieved through building a system that combines affordability and quality with as little red tape as possible. This means removing artificial state borders that reduce choice; removing the absurd complexities that make your bill depend not on the services you received, but whether you are paying out-of-pocket or through your insurance; and, yes, limiting the protection of preexisting conditions so that those who avoid insurance until it’s too late are not rewarded while those who purchase insurance early are not punished.
DON’T LET A SHUTDOWN CRISIS GO TO WASTE: FIX OBAMACARE
Government-run healthcare, and especially socialized medicine in places such as Canada and the United Kingdom, stinks. But unless we are able to fly every American out to London to wait a few years to receive care (and potentially die on a waiting list), it’s not enough to continue living off the argument that anything is better than Obamacare.
The choice facing Americans is not Obamacare or anything. It’s more Obamacare or nothing — because nothing is what the Republican Party is offering right now.
Ian Haworth is a syndicated columnist. Follow him on X (@ighaworth) or Substack.
