Monday, November 17, 2014

Where is the Conservative Alternative to the Affordable Healthcare Act?

While many are condemning Democrats for voting for the Affordable Health Care Act, they are far less critical of Republicans who openly refused to support any version of healthcare reform in order to prevent granting President Obama a “win”.  They were even unwilling to endorse provisions that they themselves had proposed in the past.  Sadly, even after the Act became law and millions enrolled, instead of getting to work to improve it, they repeatedly voted for its appeal. 

It is incredibly sad when those elected to serve the people of this country are willing to put the health of so many Americans at risk and jeopardize their financial security should a major illness or injury strike. Healthcare should not be reduced to a political issue or a financial issue. If other countries can provide healthcare to their people, why can't the United States of America? 

Much good has come from passage of the Affordable Health Care Act, including eliminating exclusions for preexisting conditions, enhancement of preventive care benefits, improved oversight of healthcare insurers and the availability of government subsidies for those who cannot afford to purchase insurance.


In my view, the focus should not be on Democrats voting for passage of the Affordable Health Care Act in spite of its complexity and imperfections. The focus should be on how the United States can catch up with the rest of the world by ensuring all citizens have access to affordable healthcare.  If Republicans have a better plan on now to do this, it’s long past time for them to present it to the American people and work as hard as President Obama did to get it passed.