PPACA: If It Don't Work Fix It

By Mark E. Ruquet

I continue to be mystified by the vehement criticism of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (otherwise known as Obamacare) and the absurd tactics critics are employing to obstruct implementation.

I remember before passage of PPACA attending a Town Hall Meeting held by Rep. Frank Pallone, D-NJ. Representatives from all over the country were getting an earful, and while Pallone’s intention was to listen and explain, there was a strong undercurrent of noxious opposition. My personal sense was and remains that those who came to the meeting wanting to know more about healthcare reform gave up and left because they felt there was no room in that raucous atmosphere to have a sensible conversation, leaving the ardent critics to the stage. That is the way it has been since passage of PPACA.

Proponents have done an awful job explaining the program to the public. Critics have done an excellent job demonizing it, harping on suspicions people hold of the federal government’s efficacy and unreliability. Some fear the medical system will fall apart with federal involvement. Others believe government should not mandate the purchase of insurance coverage—in their belief that government is mandating too much already.

The reality is—like it or not—this country’s health insurance system is broken. When 48 million people do not have health insurance, more than 15 percent of the population, there is a problem. When we see a fundraiser held for those hit with a serious disease to help them make ends meet—there is a problem. When companies cut off coverage from spouses because they can obtain their own insurance elsewhere—no matter cost or quality of that plan—there is a problem. When politicians go out of their way to deny people access to affordable health insurance through disinformation and legal obstacles—there is a problem.

The New York Times featured a story about how in Florida, and elsewhere, critics are going to great lengths to deny people access to affordable insurance under PPACA. The insistence that there is some boogeyman waiting in the wings to snatch away personal freedoms and federalize healthcare in this country is a straw man’s argument. The system needs to be overhauled.

Ultimately, there is need to streamline the delivery of healthcare in this country to make it efficient and affordable. Whether that can be accomplished solely through a private sector model or socialized medicine model remains to be seen. One thing for certain, the system cannot remain as is. Healthcare expense is too high, especially when compared to the same quality of care elsewhere in the world, and the profit model does not have the patient’s best interest in mind. Maybe we can find something in between. PPACA is a start. Critics should not be so hell-bent on dismantling the program, but should be genuine critics who recognize what doesn’t work and develop answers to make it work better.

The small cadre of Republican representatives who have the Congress tied-up in knots over defunding PPACA today should be spending their energy developing programs to make healthcare more available to Americans at affordable prices, not putting the country on the path to fiscal ruin. So far, their sole aim is to dismantle the program, but have not offered a single, sensible alternative to help Americans.