When a slew of Republicans took office after the midterm elections in 2010, one of their top priorities was to repeal the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, nicknamed "Obamacare." The act is still being disputed in the Supreme Court after its constitutionality has been questioned over and over again. Nonetheless, Friday marked the two-year anniversary of the day that Obamacare was passed. The Obama-Biden campaign invited supporters to share their stories about how the Affordable Care Act has helped them, surely in an attempt to gather support for the upcoming election.
Polls show that two years after the passage of the act, public opinion remains the same, with as many people supporting and opposing it as before. Opponents cite its high costs as a reason for opposition, in addition to the provision that mandates every American to have health insurance. Supporters say that Obamacare fixes problems that the insurance industry has and covers insured people better.
Do you support Obamacare? Do you think that it will ultimately be ruled constitutional or unconstitutional?
Sunday, March 25, 2012
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2 comments:
I do and don't support Obamacare. I support it, given that we are helping others, and keeping people healthy. However, in certain aspects I'm a little iffy on the topic of Obamacare, partially because I don't know a lot about it but I do know that it has the potential to jeopardize the economic future of this country. Obamacare has already made a really big impact on the nation's economy and could sink it further if it goes into effect in 2014. It's costs were also vastly underestimated during the national debate--President Obama's 2013 budget estimated that the cost of providing health insurance to millions of middle-class Americans over ten years will jump by 30% to which the CBO report showed that a marked increase in federal health-care spending was reported when Obamacare was being debated. The thing is although Obamacare is a good idea we can't afford to go further into debt. In addition, I'm not in full support of Obamacare because I see it as a sort of breech of freedom, it's putting at stake the power for one to decide what is medically best for their family and business, the freedom to purchase whatever product you want with your own money and ultimately the American ideal of freedom as a whole. Ultimately, I think that it will probably be ruled unconstitutional because people shouldn't be forced to pay for healthcare they may not want, or cannot afford.
I think Obamacare has two main provisions that I find are unconstitutional. One provision, which is known as the "individual mandate", requires for most Americans to buy health insurance or else they will have to pay a penalty. Another provision will force some Americans to pay for other people who cannot afford health insurance. As Kimi said, I think both are considered as breaches of our freedom. I think Congress is overstepping their powers by attempting to force people to buy a certain product, especially if it's from private companies. It would make more sense if the companies were federally owned as it would bring more revenue to the government, but the mandate is for a private product.
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