Update on the status of the Affordable Care Act
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In March 2010, after 14 months of intense debate and with narrow partisan support and substantial bipartisan opposition in Congress, President Obama signed major health care legislation into law. After six years, polls consistently show the Affordable Care Act, or Obamacare, continues to be unpopular with the public. At no point in U.S. history has such broad, sweeping social legislation become law by such a slim political margin.
This wide-ranging law empowers the federal government to manage the health care of the residents of Washington state, as well as all other Americans. The law has already generated thousands of pages of new federal regulations. This Policy Brief reports on the current status of Obamacare and how it continues to effect the health care of Washingtonians and Americans across the country.
Key Findings
- The Affordable Care Act (ACA), also called Obamacare, became law six years ago and is a clear policy failure according to the goals set by its supporters.
- The ACA has not provided universal health insurance coverage, decreased rising health care costs, or allowed Americans to retain their existing health insurance plans and doctors.
- So far Obamacare has undergone 70 significant policy changes, including important deletions and delays.
- Half of the newly insured people under the ACA were put into the Medicaid entitlement program, which is not financially sustainable, and provides poor-quality health coverage.
- Insurance premiums continue to rise and private insurance companies are dropping out of the ACA marketplace.
- Policymakers must now decide whether to impose more government control or move toward less government interference and greater patient control over health care decisions.
