Image: Reuters (accompanies the Economist link below)
Yesterday, March 31, marked the deadline for Americans to enroll in Obamacare. The Obama Administration announced today that it had surpassed its goal to enroll 7 million Americans and has apparently enrolled at least 7.041 million. White House press secretary Jay Carney reports this number could increase dramatically once those who started enrolling but did not finish before the deadline are counted. While the enrollment target may have been surpassed, reports claim that a significant portion of users signed up last-minute. It's interesting to note the impact of celebrities on social media (Ellen DeGeneres and Pharrell Williams, among many) in encouraging Americans to sign up.
Obviously, Obamacare enrollment has been an ongoing topic since its launch in October. While the obamacare.gov site was a roadblock in many people enrolling for coverage, I was initially surprised that so many people enrolled in the last week. I thought that the provisions of the Obamacare mandate would be encouraging. However, after reading this commentary from Time regarding the ineffectiveness of mandates is logical.
Looking at Obamacare as a whole, has your opinion changed in light of the 7.041 million people who have enrolled? Does this signal a better future for Obamacare? What provisions of the individual mandate should be changed or kept to make it more effective?
4 comments:
The Times article was interesting, Annika. It seems like there are lots of exceptions to the mandate that people have health insurance (such as unemployment or religious objections). This may make the law hard to enforce. What is considered a legitimate religious reason to object to health insurance? The Times articles says also that people cannot be prosecuted for refusing to pay fines, so the only enforcement is to not refund the person that amount in their tax refund. Do you think that Obamacare will suffer from enforcement problems?
On another note, I was thinking that it's odd that we call the health care "Obamacare." The president can't actually legislate laws, and the Founders would never have dreamed of mandated health care the way we think of it today. Do you think that Obamacare is a sign of a too large federal government or too active president? Or are times changing and so the government must change as well?
Some religions discourage or disallow the use of medicine, and if a person legitimately falls under this category, I think he or she should not have to purchase health insurance. But you’re right, I think enforcement problems will arise. When too many people earn the right to be exempt from a national initiative, it becomes difficult to convince those who do need to register to do so.
You also make an interesting observation about the name “Obamacare.” I wonder if that name was used so frequently that people were confused by the term “Affordable Care Act.” It does tie the concept more directly to the president when the initiative was obviously not solely dreamt up and executed by Obama.
I have been a supporter of Obamacare since day one, and I think that these results signal a very bright future of Obamacare. Despite all of the arguments that have been made against it, it has still surpassed its goal, and I think that that in itself says a lot about its future. It provides important medical care for those who need it, and as of late it provides tests for high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and diabetes; it also provides routine vaccinations, which would not be available to some people without Obamacare. In my opinion, Obamacare will be beneficial for those who have signed up, despite all the talk of how horrible it is and the criticisms it has received from the Republican party.
Similar to what Alex said, I think the fact that Obamacare surpassed its goal for 7 million Americans to enroll by 0.041 million is remarkable. If it's already off to such a great start, it's a sign that it will be successful in improving health care in the United States. I like how so many celebrities are in favor of it as well. While Obamacare itself is wonderful, but how likely is it that so many people signed up for it because of influence from one of their favorite celebrities? Is there any correlation there or is every person in the 7.041 million + Americans who enrolled truly a supporter of the program?
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