By State Representative, Leon D. Young
Leon D. Young
Thirty-two of the thirtythree developed nations have some form of universal health care, with the United States being the lone exception. All that changed last year on March 23, 2011, when President Barack Obama signed the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) into law or so we thought.
A majority of the states, and numerous organizations and individual persons, have filed actions in federal court challenging the constitutionality of PPACA. As of January 2012, two of four federal appellate courts have upheld it; a third declared the individual mandate unconstitutional, while a fourth ruled the federal Anti-Injunction Act prevents the issue from being decided until taxpayers begin paying penalties in 2015. The Supreme Court heard six hours of oral argument on March 26–28, 2012, and is expected to issue its decision by the end of June.
Roughly 15 percent of Americans, or the equivalent of 50 million people, lack health insurance coverage. Moreover, horror stories abound concerning insurance providers charging exorbitant premium rates, dropping coverage following diagnosis of an illness or refusing to extend coverage for a pre-existing condition. With this being the case, why is there so little support for the Affordable Health Care Act?
It would be safe to say that the Obama administration has done a less than adequate job of explaining the provisions contained in this comprehensive piece of legislation, and has been fairly remiss in driving home the positive benefits that are derived, so that most Americans will one, understand the scope and two, take ownership of the law.
There is no end to the litany of myths that have been disseminated by those opposed to the Affordable Health Care Act. A small sampling of these blatant lies and distortions include:
Myth 1 – Health reform will lead to a government takeover of health care. This is utterly false. The Affordable Health Care Act puts people, not health insurance companies or government, in charge of health care.
Myth 2 – Health insurance reform will use my tax dollars to fund abortions. No. The health insurance reform legislation maintains the status quo of no federal funding for abortions except in cases of rape, incest or when the life of the woman is endangered.
Myth 3 – Employers will stop offering insurance to their workers in 2014 when the law is implemented. Based on information gleaned from a wide variety of sources, the evidence suggests that employers will continue to offer health coverage to their workers.
Myth 4 (and the basis for the Supreme Court challenge) – The Affordable Care Act’s individual responsibility requirement is unconstitutional. The High Court will not render a decision until sometime this June, as to whether all or part of this legislation is declared unconstitutional. But, in truth, this is all about presidential politics. If the Supreme Court strikes down all, or part, of Obama’s signature legislation this would be a major embarrassment for the president; and, potentially, diminish his chances for re-election. However, in the grand scheme of things for most Americans, the repeal of the Affordable Health Care Act would be a colossal setback.