President Obama’s healthcare battle
THE United States has been noted for being one of the few developed countries that doesn’t provide an adequate national health services for its citizens. Since he took office, President Obama has tried to change that. Despite the fact that the Republicans have done everything to kill it, Congress finally passed the President’s Affordable Care Act, and, when it was immediately challenged, the Supreme Court upheld the law. The Affordable Care Act is now in its second year of operation and it is doing better than even its supporters predicted. First of all, it covers many previously uninsured. Opponents of the law had insisted that it would reduce coverage. On the contrary, another 15 million Americans have gained health insurance. In states that have implemented the act in full and expanded Medicaid, the Urban Institute reports that the uninsured have fallen from 16 percent to 7.5 percen in the second year.
How good is the coverage? The newly insured have seen a sharp drop in health-related financial problems. And despite dire warnings that premiums would skyrocket, premiums remain lower than expected. Republicans also warned that helping Americans afford health care would result in economic collapse. But the US economy has added more than 240, 000 jobs a month on average since Obamacare went into effect.
What about Republican claims that health reform would cause the budget deficit to explode? The deficit has actually continued to decline and the Congressional Budget Office reaffirmed its conclusion that repealing Obamacare would have increased, not reduced, the deficit.
The results are a policy triumph for the Obama administration. Americans now have a law that despite everything its opponents have done to undermine it, is achieving its goals, costing less than expected, and making the lives of millions of Americans more secure. Mr. Obama said that the law “is working exactly as it’s supposed to” and he called for an end to the vitriolic politics that threatened it. “For all the misinformation campaigns, all the doomsdays predictions, all the talk of death panels and job destruction, for all the repeal attempts, this law is now helping tens of millions of Americans.”
Republican House Speaker John Boehner said that he is preparing a lawsuit against the president, arguing that Mr. Obama overstepped his legal authority in carrying out the healthcare act.
The passage of the Affordable Care Act also resonates in the Philippines, according to Pasig City representative Roman Romulo, who said “We expect Obamacare to stimulate America’s demand for Filipino nurses, physical therapists, and other Health Care workers.”