[Originally published 10/2014] It's been our official healthcare all year long, the legislation dubbed, the Affordable Care Act also known as “Obamacare”. How has it faired? That may have mostly to do with your political point of view and little to do with the truth. Even with this new legislation enacted we still have a market-based system of healthcare. People will only get the amount of healthcare that they can afford rather than what they need or is required. The Affordable Care Act (ACA) takes our failed system to new heights with the only participants gaining value from it - the upper echelon of the health insurance industry, for-profit hospitals and the big pharmaceuticals.
Having listened to the debate over the new legislation prior to its passing only makes me realize that most Americans don't have a clue about the healthcare industry or the healthcare system they're now receiving. In a nutshell, the ACA takes our broken, failed, market-based healthcare system and requires the uninsured to purchase private health plans using the government to sell and subsidize those plans. Those that already had health insurance are either forced off of their existing plan and onto one of the new ACA compliant plans or are blasted with rate increases, coverage exemptions, and out of pocket increases. Americans are being subjugated to a class divided system of healthcare. Once again it seems our government is complicit in yet another money-making scam profiting the large corporations that seem to be running everything now.