After 6 years and 6 fruitless attempts to repeal Obamacare in its entirety, repeal is finally within sight of Congress. With President-elect Trump set to be sworn-in two days from now, there should be no delay in moving forward with repeal legislation and getting it on his desk.
Trump made repeal one of the major themes of his campaign, and he should waste no time in doing what tens of millions voted for him to do; pull the plug on Obamacare once and for all. The law that owes its passage, according to its own author, to the “stupidity of the American voter” has failed miserably, causing massive hikes in out-of-pocket costs to consumers, eliminating patient choice, handcuffing doctors and hospitals in the care they provide, and forcing millions to lose the healthcare coverage they wanted only to be forced to pay for services they will never use.
This doesn’t even take into account Obamacare’s disastrous impact on our economy and its part in job losses and “out of business” signs hung by employers who could not afford its spiraling price tag.
Yet some in Washington still have a grip on the handbrake, arguing that comprehensive replacement legislation must be approved before touching Obamacare. We believe this approach is both wrong and not what the American people voted for.
If Obamacare proved anything it’s that top-down government dictates, even those with good intentions of ‘fixing’ healthcare, are inherently flawed and will upend any real chance for healthcare reform. To encourage innovation and positive market forces that create competition and gives consumers real choice, the government must first get out of the way and move forward with full repeal.
Of course a transition period will ensue as consumers review their post-Obamacare options and the markets for healthcare, medical services and insurance are allowed to adapt to the law’s demise. Trump has already sided with keeping a few popular features of Obamacare, such as coverage for pre-existing conditions, which makes sense in terms that insurance is meant to spread risk among those covered. Congress and the new president should have no problem passing such components into law piecemeal as they are reviewed, vetted and contoured to the ultimate benefit of America’s healthcare consumers.
This approach allows Washington to understand what works and what people want from the ground up, not the top down. But true innovation that breeds better products and more consumer choice won’t begin until Obamacare is first repealed, quickly and entirely.
