I felt, and still feel, that it's insane--freaking insane--that every American citizen does not have access to basic healthcare. It's unconscionable. It's a moral failure.
There is a huge--HUGE--gap in our safety net because health insurance is tied to full-time employment. Too many employers can game the system by hiring people just under full-time, making American workers work two jobs without getting insurance (or related benefits) from either employer. To say nothing of those who aren't employed or who would like to get private insurance but have preexisting conditions. The fact that you have to go through insurance companies to get healthcare in America is hugely problematic. Too many people are left out of the system. It needs to get fixed.
So some thoughts about the rollout of the ACA given how bad it has been.
1.
Liberals didn't want the ACA. We didn't want insurance reform. We wanted healthcare reform. But since healthcare reform wasn't in the offing, we were stuck with the plan that originated from Republican think-tanks (I'm looking at you Heritage Foundation): The Affordable Care Act. That is, insurance reform.
At the very least, if we had to stick to the funding side, we wanted a single payer system. We didn't even get that. A single-payer system would have been so much easier than trying to corral all the private insurance companies as we are trying to do now.
Still, the ACA got more people insurance and enrolled more poor people in Medicaid. That was an improvement. So many of us voted for it. Even though it wasn't what we really wanted.
2.
Enrolling through HealthCare.gov is still a mess. Hopefully they'll get it fixed. Soon. But the happy news is that since the ACA became law the highest enrollments have been from those joining Medicaid. Because of the ACA more poor people are getting access to healthcare. That's good news.
3.
I believe in perfecting our Union. Well, I believe in reforming our Union. I'd like to believe that both Republicans and Democrats can work together to get every American citizen access to quality healthcare. And if that means reforming the ACA by all means let us do that. I don't care about the political winners and losers. I care about the outcomes.
I could care less about repealing Obamacare. But I care great deal about if you can improve it.
4.
The wars in Afghanistan and Iraq cost the American taxpayers 4-6 trillion dollars. Along with the lives of over 4,400 US troops. Civilian casualty estimates are 100,000+. Those are innocent men, women and children. Finally, the Iraq war lasted eight years.
The ACA is pretty small potatoes by comparison. I'm willing to play the long game with this.
If you were patient with that war--given its cost in lives and treasure--I think you can spare some patience getting people some healthcare.
