3 Ways Obamacare Is Like HealthCare.gov
by Amy Payne, Heritage Foundation, October 24, 2013
The abject failure of the Obamacare website, Healthcare.gov, is proving quite the analogy for Obamacare itself—with good reason.
CNN reported yesterday: “Experts say the major problems with the Obamacare website can’t reasonably be solved before the end of 2013, and the best fix would be to start over from scratch.”
In fact, the best fix for health care in America would be to scrap Obamacare and start over from scratch.
The article reports all of the following about Healthcare.gov—and we couldn’t help but notice the parallels.
1. “We don’t even know where all of the problems lie.”
An information security expert said this to describe Healthcare.gov. It’s also true of Obamacare, which continues to create new problems as more and more of its regulations are being written. It was passed years ago, but we still don’t know everything that’s in it.
2. “The sheer size of Healthcare.gov is indicative of a major rush job.”
Obamacare was a rush job. It was passed on a partisan vote and some Members of Congress admitted they never read the 2,000-plus-page bill.
3. “The Obamacare website has bigger problems than simply getting people registered for health care.”
Here, CNN is referring to the site’s security threats and the privacy of people’s personal information in its massive data hub. But Obamacare itself has much bigger problems than simply “covering” people. Heritage experts have explained that it’s one thing to promise someone insurance coverage; it’s another to put the federal government in charge of health insurance.
It’s a painful process watching people get notices that their premiums are skyrocketing,wondering how they’re going to make ends meet and provide health insurance for their families. And this could have been prevented. Much of the pain to come could still be prevented—if Congress would stop Obamacare from taking root in our country.
Obamacare has already been delayed or amended 19 times, including the delay of the employer mandate. Now Democratic Senator Joe Manchin (WV) is pushing to delay the individual mandate.
As Healthcare.gov has shown us, the revelations about Obamacare won’t stop—and won’t get any better. We need to scrap it and start over with patient-centered health care reform.
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