Unfortunately, you are absolutely correct.
Republicans had no intention of getting rid of this socialist monster disguised as "caring."
So now we have a President who's in agreement with the worst takeover of personal liberty ever created by Congress.
The country is done for. We're moving farther left than socialist Europe....... and in some ways, we're already there.
Cut me a break.
The "worst takeover of personal liberty ever created by Congress" has been addressed by Republicans. The individual mandate - the requirement that you purchase health insurance - is gone.
You can go without coverage, and rely on your savings, charity or just the rest of us taxpayers if and when you get sick. Your precious liberty to be a free rider and pawn off your troubles on others remains.
That doesn't mean, of course, that our health care financing system has been fixed. Some of us, in exercising our liberty, may choose to be responsible and obtain insurance, but find it unaffordable. The ACA markets permit competition only with respect to networks, copays and deductibles, not on the range of risks one may choose to protect with insurance.
I am coming to the view that what is probably the best solution is a hybrid system. The current employer-financed system has too many vested interests, not the least of which is the private hospital system, which relies on reimbursements from employer-provided group insurance to offset the chintzy reimbursements from Medicare and Medicaid. (Any Congresscritters thinking about supporting Medicare for all ought to be required to get their health coverage through Medicare for one year and see how they like it, before they foist that mess on us all.)
The employer-financed system is also the driver behind the U.S.'s lead in medical innovations and new drugs. Yes, not everyone has coverage through his or her employer, and employers are straining under the cost, but there is value to a private health insurance system centered around group (employer-provided) coverage.
What I am coming to support, therefore, is a hybrid approach whereby the government would provide stop-loss coverage with respect to all private insurance. Costs that exceed, for example, $75,000 per year would be paid for by the state and financed by means of general taxation. Freed of liability for catastrophic claims, and with cost certainly regarding total costs per covered life, insurance protection would become instantly more affordable. Couple that with the usual conservative-favored reforms, such as tort reform and the opening of insurance markets to greater competition, and suddenly we'll have the best of both worlds - the same private insurance system that encourages innovation, but bolstered by government subsidization of catastrophic costs that make current insurance so unaffordable for many. Sure you can still be a free rider - don't want to take away your precious liberty - but if you're responsible you'll have an affordable means of protecting yourself from risk.
