Florida, Texas, Alaska and other opponents of the Affordable Care Act need to get with the program.
The law, funneled through Congress by Obama’s administration, hinges on an individual health care mandate that would require all American citizens to purchase health insurance or be fined.
But the law has been met with strong opposition from states that generally lean to the right, like Texas.
“There’s a feeling among doctors here that government is crushing them,” said Louis Goodman, chief executive of the Texas Medical Association, in a New York Times story.
Objections from both Democrats and Republicans have in part prompted the U.S. Supreme Court to review the constitutionality of the law. The high court said Monday it would convene to hear the case.
But regardless of whether the act gets past the Supreme Court, insurance and health care providers are already preparing to service a large influx of new patients.
The U.S. governement has given states $516 million already. California alone has received $40 million.
Other states, such as Florida (which has the largest number of uninsured citizens in the U.S.), have turned down federal money. Alaska, like Florida, has been dragging its heels in respect to health care reform.
If the law is ruled unconstitutional, these states will probably be taunting legislators who supported it, saying, “We told you so.”
This is not the right attitude to take when it comes to reform. The entire nation needs to be behind the law for it to really work.
Even if the Supreme Court gives it the go-ahead, state, regional and local administrators will still have to make sure the the policy is executed correctly.
Though the individual insurance mandate of the bill has garnered the most attention from the public, other provisions are riding on its back. These include requirements that employers provide health coverage to employees and that insurers cannot refuse coverage.
Does that sound a bit like socialism to you? It definitely does to some conservative states that are decrying the law. And socialism has been a four-letter word in American politics for many years. But somewhere, FDR is grinning in his grave.
Insofar as health care, capitalism just isn’t working any more. We have to try something different. To detractors: let’s start working together for once. It just might work.