Ross Douthat: The hole in Obamacare
As it is with many Leftist initiatives (e.g., Operation Head Start), the Left wants us to measure the Affordable Care Act (colloquially known as "Obamacare") by the presumably good intentions that energized its supporters when it was passed.
But as with Operation Head Start, seven years in, there are basically no measurable HEALTH BENEFITS coming out of this massive waste of borrowed money. And lest we forget, the issue is HEALTH, and not Health Insurance. Where are the dropping death rates from ANYTHING, improved infant mortality, and so on?
So we have, basically, half the country screeching their outrage that the repeal of Obamacare will result in thousands dying in the streets, while the real, hard evidence indicates that it has had NO MEASURABLE HEALTH BENEFIT.
In the Real World, such massive failure would likely result in the perpetrators - corporate or otherwise - dropping it and reverting to the status quo ante. For Government, not so much.
As it is with many Leftist initiatives (e.g., Operation Head Start), the Left wants us to measure the Affordable Care Act (colloquially known as "Obamacare") by the presumably good intentions that energized its supporters when it was passed.
But as with Operation Head Start, seven years in, there are basically no measurable HEALTH BENEFITS coming out of this massive waste of borrowed money. And lest we forget, the issue is HEALTH, and not Health Insurance. Where are the dropping death rates from ANYTHING, improved infant mortality, and so on?
So we have, basically, half the country screeching their outrage that the repeal of Obamacare will result in thousands dying in the streets, while the real, hard evidence indicates that it has had NO MEASURABLE HEALTH BENEFIT.
In the Real World, such massive failure would likely result in the perpetrators - corporate or otherwise - dropping it and reverting to the status quo ante. For Government, not so much.