Why America wasn’t ready for Obamacare

February 17, 2010 – 8:16 pm

Healthcare reform was the major piece of legislation that President Obama tried to pass in the first year of his administration. Obama campaigned for president on the promise that he would reform healthcare in America, and the American public agreed with him, that they wanted the healthcare system reformed. Opinion polls taken in the fall of 2008 indicated that over 60% of the public was in favor of healthcare reform, yet by the autumn of 2009 over 60% of those polled were against the healthcare reform bills before congress. What happened to foster this large swing in public opinion in less than one year?

The huge drop in public support for healthcare reform can be attributed to a combination of factors, both substantive and political.

The fact that the bill was over 2000 pages long caused many people to fear the worse in the bill. When it became clear that few, if any, in congress actually knew what provisions were in the bill, but were going to vote for it anyway, many Americans became concerned.

As the public discovered what was actually written into the bill, the opinion of the voting public against the bill grew steadily stronger. Some of the major points in the bill that turned voters against it were:

Requirements for everyone to buy health insurance or pay a fine
Increase in taxes starting in 2010 but benefits not starting until 2013 or 2014
The fact that several provisions were probably unconstitutional

While Americans want something done about the ever increasing healthcare costs, this bill did not really address any of the factors causing healthcare costs to continually increase:

Regulations that require specific coverage in every healthcare policy
Defensive medical testing because of unlimited liability to lawsuits
No accountability in the entire healthcare system
Limited competition for insurance companies due to government regulations

The political process which was required to pass the bill was very appalling to anyone who was paying attention to the process.

When the Unions and government employees were exempted from the tax on “Cadillac” healthcare plans, many voters smelled a rat. When the people passing this bill were exempted from its provisions, the American public took notice. When republicans were essentially locked out of any debates on the content of the bills and weren’t allowed to add amendments to the bill, the American voters voiced their opposition to the process. The number of, and dollar amounts, of bribes doled out to obtain the required number of votes needed to pass the bill may have been the deciding factor that caused public opinion to drop below 50%.

This frustration came to a head in the special election for the Senate seat in Massachusetts. The voters there elected a Republican candidate, in a predominately Democrat state, who clearly campaigned against the Healthcare reform bill. Other politicians viewed the outcome of this election as a clear sign that the public did not support the healthcare reform bill, and concerned about their own re-election, withdrew their support for the bill.

The American public rejected the Healthcare reform bill of 2009 for a combination of reasons:

The substance of the bill took too much control out of the individual’s hands. Government intervention in insurance policy coverage requirements, doctor re-reimbursement, and testing procedures all felt too much like socialized for most Americans to handle. Increases in taxes and fines for non-compliance angered many voters in today’s economic climate. Too many voters saw the cost far outreaching the benefits in the healthcare reform bill.

The politics involved in the passage of separate bills in the separate chambers of congress proved to most voters that the bill was about power and politics, not the American public. They correctly saw that the Healthcare reform bill was mostly a power grab by the Obama administration. The American public was not ready to turn over an industry that represents one sixth of the economy to the government. Not after the government essentially took over two American automobile companies, major banks, and major investment firms.

In hindsight, which is always 20/20, the Obama administration tried to do too much, too fast, and too secretively.

The healthcare industry still needs to be reformed, but the American public clearly said this bill was not the solution.

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