I am not surprised one bit that there are over 10 million Americans living in poverty without any health insurance. In fact, like many other people, I knew this was the case before the Affordable Care Act was passed and before the health care debate even began. Obviously, any society is better and more effective in which more of its citizens are insured. However, I do not believe that it is the governments obligation to provide healthcare for the unfortunate. Personally, I believe in small government; a government that does not get involved in the economic or social lives of its citizens. This is without even mentioning the economic consequences of providing healthcare for all of the citizens.
I agree with the Supreme Court decision that left it up to the states on whether or not to expand Medicaid, as outlined in the Affordable Care Act. I don’t see how one can make a good argument that the court authorized unintentional discrimination. Just because a southern state refuses to expand a social entitlement program, does not mean that they are racists or that they are discriminating. The reason that these states declined to expand Medicaid starts off with the fact that they simply don’t have the money for it. Many of these states are among the 10 poorest in the nation. Contrary to popular belief, the federal government is not subsidizing the whole new Medicaid program, it is the states who are going to have to pay for a pretty hefty percentage. How are poor states, with poor citizens, with low taxable incomes, supposed to pay for free healthcare for its citizens. The only way to do that would be to run a deficit. New York is one of the states that chose to participate in the Medicaid expansion program. Certainly, this is going to help a large number of people, I am not denying that. But at the expense of whom? The other 90% of the state who pays for their own health insurance with their own hard earned money.
The intention of the Affordable Care Act is to help provide health insurance for all Americans, and it will ultimately fail to do that. What people must realize is that this law does not give people health insurance. All it does is provide a mandate for individuals to buy health insurance, and subsidize some of the costs for those who cannot afford to pay for a plan. This is not going to help poor Americans who need health insurance. In fact, even with subsidies, many people still aren’t going to afford to purchase a plan, and hence they are going to get fined 1% of their income in 2014, and an increasing percentage in following years. The law also has a terrible impact on the economy. The employer mandate is forcing companies to cut the hours of their employees to part time, in order to not have to provide health care for them. Now look at what happens as a result of that. A single mother who was previously working 45 hours per week and could not afford health insurance, is now working 28 hours per week. Now even with subsidies, how is she supposed to buy a plan? Now take 1% of her income away in 2014, and her and her child(ren) are worse off than they were in the first place. A key provision of the Affordable Care Act is disallowing health insurance companies from denying somebody coverage because of preexisting conditions. This, by itself is definitely a positive. However, this is causing health insurance premiums to skyrocket. By covering people who are at a higher risk, health insurance companies are spending more money per person that they cover, on average. Basic economics tells you that instead of making less profit, they are going to increase premiums across the board. Once again, hurting the poor and middle class. America clearly needs healthcare reform and we need more people to be covered. However, Obamacare is hurting the same people that it meant to help.
