Why I Hate Obamacare

I try really hard to ignore politics.  It is all a show, and we don't really have any influence over any of it.  But, I can't ignore the comments of my friends on Facebook, gloating about the Affordable Care Act being approved by the Supreme Court, and making fun of people who want to move to Canada to get away from Obamacare.  Because, you know, if a system that forces people who can't afford health coverage to pay for it anyway is bad, then a system that spreads the cost of healthcare around based on income must be worse, right?  Except it's not, at least not for most of us.  If I weren't already planning to move to Mexico, I might want to move to Canada to escape this ill-conceived law. 

Let's suppose I'm a member of a financially typical American household a couple of years from now, and lack employer-paid health coverage.  Fewer and fewer of us are covered by employer plans as unemployment and downward mobility increase.  What happens when we're required to pay for health coverage, or pay a large fine, on top of the bills we're already struggling to pay?  First, if we eat healthy foods, that will probably have to stop.  Healthy foods are expensive; foods made from subsidized GMO corn are cheap.  Maybe we'll have to work longer hours or take a second job, or put up with a job we hate.  Maybe we'll have to give up vacations or hobbies.  Maybe we'll default on some debts, even our mortgage.  Is any of this good for our health?  I would suggest that, in fact, someone like me who eats homegrown organic vegetables and grass-fed meats, uses herbal home remedies, gets enough sleep and has time to relax, but has no access to medical care, is likely to be healthier than someone who is overworked, eating poorly, stressed, sleep-deprived, and under the care of a doctor.  It's not hard to predict that this law will make Americans overall less healthy.  So what will it accomplish? 

Well, one way or another, I guarantee you this law is designed to transfer wealth from the poor to the rich.  Maybe they're counting on a lot of people defaulting on debts, and will use it to push through another bank bailout.  Maybe they want to boost the health-care segment of the economy at the expense of our real health.  Maybe they want to crush the local and organic food movements.  Or make hospital care inaccessible to the undocumented.  Or all of the above.

If the government really wanted health care to be affordable, I have some suggestions for what they might do.  For one, eliminate multimillion-dollar malpractice awards.  Cut the lawyers and the insurance companies out of the deal.  For two, provide basic preventive health care very cheaply to everyone, but put a reasonable cap on how much subsidized health care anyone can consume.  It seems harsh to our modern sensibilities, but unlimited tests and life-extending medical treatments cannot be provided when their costs are too much for society to bear: this is like asking your grandchildren to carry you around on their backs for 20 years.  Just because medical science can invent it, doesn't mean we can afford it.  For three, stop subsidizing the industrial food system to produce cheap foods that make people sick. 

I actually don't think the Affordable Care Act will last very long, regardless of who is elected president.  I think enough people will simply refuse to pay for health coverage they can't afford.  The income limits to qualify for free coverage will have to be extremely low as people get poorer, because there have to be enough payers to support the added costs.  The pressure to overturn it will simply be too great.  But, I hope I won't be here to find out.  Good luck, America.