Surprising Reasons Why Most Americans Oppose Obamacare
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Despite a wounded economy and fierce opposition, President Obama made passage of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act a top priority, getting it passed in 2010. Critics named the Act Obamacare. In June 2012, the Supreme Court ruled the Affordable Care Act was constitutional, thanks to the Federal government's sovereign right to tax.
Now everyone must have health insurance by March 31, 2014, or pay the tax.
For this reason, there are still many efforts to repeal the Act, three years after its passage. This was the reason behind shutting down the government on October 1, 2013. Find out what's happened, and why.
Answer: More than half (54%) of Americans are opposed to Obamacare. However, only 35% oppose it because they think it's too liberal. A surprising 16% think the Act doesn't go far enough to provide affordable health care. Another 12% are opposed because they think the Act has been repealed, while 7% think it's been overturned by the Supreme Court. (Source: Politico, Poll Shows 54% Against Obamacare, May 2013)
Those who think it's too liberal feel that the Act gives the Federal government too much control over personal health care decisions and benefits, forcing a "complex one-size-fits-all health system" onto the states. For them it's a question of personal liberty and states' rights. They also are afraid it will add to the national debt, like Medicare.
Similarly, even many of those without insurance don't want to be forced to get it or be penalized by a tax.
In fact, many people plan to just pay the tax, which is 1% of income above the minimum taxable amount. For them, it would be cheaper, especially if they are very healthy. This, of course, partly defeats one of the purposes of the Act -- to lower health insurance costs overall by adding healthy people to the pool of insured. They would be paying premiums, but not using services. (Source: Fox News, House Votes to Repeal Obamacare, May 16, 2013)
Many with coverage haven't been able to keep their plans. Many insurance companies don't want to comply with the required benefits, and so have dropped the plans. In fact, between 3-5 million employees could lose their plans if their companies decide it's more profitable to just pay the penalty for not providing insurance. For these people, insurance costs have gone up.
As you might expect, the individuals and businesses that are paying higher Obamacare taxes are opposed. They feel they're subsidizing the lifestyles of those who haven't worked as hard.
Even the bi-partisan Congressional Budget Office points that the Act might, instead of lowering health care costs, increase them. Many of the newly insured will get free preventive care, discovering illnesses that would have gone untreated. While this is a good thing for them, it could drive up costs for all, at least in the short term. (Source: CBO, 2009 Study on Preventive Health Care, August 7, 2009)
Efforts to Repeal Obamacare
The Republican-led house has tried many times to undo Obamacare. On September 20, they submitted a continuing resolution to fund the government only if Obamacare was defunded. The Senate rejected that bill, sending back a clean resolution, that the House did not vote on.
Instead, on September 29, the House sent another bill to the Senate to delay implementation of the Act for a year, and repeal the tax on medical devices. The Senate deleted that language, and sent a clean bill back to the House.
On September 30, the House ignored the Senate bill and sent another bill to delay the individual mandate for a year, and withhold the subsidy for Congressional staff.
The Senate sent another clean funding bill back, which the House also ignored. The Federal government shut down on October 1, 2013. For details, see How Does a Government Shutdown Affect You?
On August 2, 2013, House Republicans voted for the 40th time to repeal Obamacare. Why? Some cynics say it's purely politically-motivated. Even though these actions to stop Obamacare are ineffective, the constant opposition is popular with their constituents. Party leaders hope this loyalty will drum up enough support to control the Senate in the 2014 mid-term elections. (Sources: Huffington Post, House GOP Votes to Repeal Obamacare 40th Time, August 2, 2013; WaPo, Yes, the 37th Obamacare Repeal Vote Matters May 16, 2013)
During the 2012 Presidential campaign, three of the 2011 Republican Presidential candidates promised to repeal Obamacare. Mitt Romney was accused of being hypocritical, since he instituted a form of Obamacare when he was Governor of Massachusetts. Some critics called it Obamneycare. Former candidate Rick Perry believed that employer-sponsored health care insurance was sufficient. Former candidate Michele Bachmann filed a bill to repeal Obamacare. For more details, see Obamacare Pros and Cons.
In 2010, shortly after the Affordable Care Act was passed, 21 states sued to protect their citizens from being forced to purchase health insurance. They felt the Constitution did not cover health insurance as part of Congresss to regulate interstate commerce 2011: The mandate that everyone must get health insurance was ruled unconstitutional by the 11th Circuit Court of Appeal in Atlanta. It stated that this particular mandate falls outside of Congressional authority . In response, the Treasury Department petitioned the Supreme Court to hear the case in 2012
Obama originally promised health care reform during the 2008 Presidential campaign. In fact, he wanted government-run, universal health care similar to Medicare. However, this idea was voted down by the Senate, which proposed a private insurance plan. Even this plan went through many changes until it was finally agreed upon by a primarily Democratic Congress in 2010. For details, see Health Care Reform Timeline. Article updated October 15, 2014