In their campaigning this week many if not all of the Republican candidates stumping in Iowa for a chance to run against President Barack Obama in 2012 have attacked the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act which was passed and signed into law in March 2010.
In their fervent desire to rid the government of all things supported by the President (even things which have in the past been supported by their party), each of them has declared that “Obamacare” would be completely repealed if he or she is elected into office. Of course, the newly elected President would also need a simple majority in the U.S. House of Representatives and obtain close to 60 seats in the U.S. Senate to have even a chance at doing so, but that is another topic.
However, in making such a bold proclamation, they continually and purposely fail to address the following questions to which all in their audience should receive answers:
- What will become of the thousands of children each year under age 19 who are born with or develop medical conditions which are expensive to treat, yet will be dropped from coverage by private insurance companies upon repeal of the Affordable Care Act?
- How will millions of young adults age 18 up to 26 pay for medical coverage when insurance companies drop them from their parent’s insurance policies upon repeal?
- How will thousands of adult Americans who develop expensive-to-treat illnesses such as cancer pay for their medical expenses when insurance companies drop them after the GOP repeal the health care law?
- How will the millions of Americans with pre-existing conditions obtain health insurance in order to pay for their medical conditions, as private insurers, without the health care law, will surely re-enact their previous policy to deny payment for the treatment of such conditions?
- What will Americans do when private insurance companies decide to continually elevate rates in order to increase profits and CEO bonuses by going back to their pre-Affordable Care Act practice of using only a fraction of the premiums they collect for actually paying rightful claims, all the while they find any means possible to deny claims and allow their customers who become too great a financial liability to simply die?
There are many more questions, but listing them would take too long, and besides, the point is made with these.
Solutions are needed for the future if we as a nation are to compete on the world stage. In addition, greater insecurity in health care coverage creates a greater risk to the security of the entire nation. These candidates who continually beat drums for the dissolution of the 2010 health care reform law without offering a valid alternative in the least show their absolute naiveté in both national security issues as well as domestic issues.
The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act is by no means perfect, but it is a starting point upon which to build, and much better than the alternative offered by the Republicans: a health care system where only the rich can afford adequate health care and while others covered by private insurance receive health care at the whim of a greedy health insurance industry. And then there are the tens of millions of Americans who receive no health insurance coverage at all, a number which will increase if Republicans have their way in 2012.
