The Supreme Court decision to affirm the constitutionality of the Affordable Health Care Act is clearly a big win for the President. But the win will come with a political price. The declaration by the court that the despised mandate is a “tax” will only serve to galvanize the President’s opponents. Speaker Boehner and Majority Whip Cantor have already announced that they will bring a vote to repeal the law onto the House floor as early as next week. Mitt Romney has made it clear that if elected, repealing the law is one of the one million things he will do on what promises to be the longest first day in office in our history.
Here is where the Republicans have a problem. They don’t have an alternative solution. Time and time again Republican leaders go on talk shows and blast “Obamacare” as socialized medicine and another example of government over reach. But when pressed for their solution to the rising cost of health care, they respond with a jumble of vague generalizations. The best they can do is say that they will allow insurance companies to sell across state lines. This they argue that will increase competition and therefore lower premiums. The problem here is that insurance companies can already sell across state lines. All they have to do is agree to follow the laws established by the individual states in which they choose to market their products. But many state laws are so restrictive that most insurance companies do not feel they can go there and make money. So the insurance companies stay away leaving local citizens with too few choices and no competition to drive down premiums.
It is true that when asked, a majority of Americans say they do not like “Obamacare.” But when asked about specifics like” free preventative care, no lifetime limits on coverage, no cancellations for pre-existing conditions, the ability for kids under 26 to stay on their parents’ policy until they can find a job with benefits, the ability to keep your coverage even if you lose your job…an overwhelming majority of people approve.
It is true that most people do not like the idea of a government mandate. Calling it a tax makes the concept even that much more reviled. But when you explain that 1% of the population can afford to buy health insurance but chooses not to; preferring to save their money and pass the cost of their emergency room visits onto the rest of us…you get folks’ attention. And when you explain that the mandate/tax is simply a vehicle to force these freeloaders to pay for their own health care instead of expecting the rest of us to pay it for them…the naysayers suddenly see the light.
It is also true that a majority of the people do not want the government to re-litigate an issue that has not only been debated for three years but has been affirmed by the highest court in the land. They rightly feel that Congress should be focusing on other issues…like jobs.
But none of this will deter Republicans from doing their best to repeal the law in its entirety.
One would think that if conservatives wanted to rid themselves of “Obamacare” they would present a clearly defined, detailed solution to the country’s health care needs. But they won’t.
They won’t because the truth of the matter is that Republicans really don’t care about making affordable healthcare available to everyone. To them healthcare is nothing more than a cumbersome millstone hanging around the neck of their bottom line profits; and the Affordable Health Care Act only adds more weight to that millstone.
The Republican goal is to repeal the Affordable Health Care Act. They are tilting at windmills. But if they should somehow succeed…don’t waste your time looking for them to present an alternative.
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