Now Fix the Affordable Care Act

The election is over. It was close, but not as close as some thought it might be. At least we now have an idea of the direction we’re heading as we try to fix health care. The Affordable Care Act (ACA) is certainly not perfect and not too many folks actually like it (it’s expensive and very few understand how the pieces of the law are all supposed to fit together). But it’s what we have to work with.


The House of Representatives continues to be controlled by the Republicans and the Senate by the Democrats. And we have a Democratic President. No change from where we were before. The respective numbers changed slightly in both the House and Senate, but the overall picture looks the same. Hopefully, the two sides will start working better together more than they have been the last four years.

The pundits are analyzing the results. Some think President Obama has a “mandate” from the general population. I don’t think so. He was simply given more time to deliver results. This wasn’t a mandate, it was a message. Most of the general public is exhausted from the process and simply wants Washington to start fixing what needs to be fixed and quit the political warfare that has already cost us our debt rating has brought us close to the “fiscal cliff” that will occur on January 1 if some pretty bold actions aren’t taken, and the debt and costs continue to grow and the average citizen continues to feel the results. We won’t fix our problems if the two sides don’t start working better together. President Obama needs to lead by example.

Now would be a good time for both sides to sit down and re-evaluate the intent and status of the Affordable Care Act implementation. They should get rid of the costs and unnecessary bureaucracy that may not make sense considering our current economic picture. Some of the ideas that might have seemed logical in 2009-2010 may not be all that logical today.

The Affordable Care Act has some good ideas but in many ways misses the point on the fundamental problem we need to address. The ACA focusses on access (getting everyone into the health insurance pool; mandating health insurance) and doesn’t really deal with the costs until we’re further down the road. Cost is the issue. Including more people in a system that doesn’t immediately address the costs of health care is going to make the Affordable Care Act much more expensive than anticipated- ultimately losing any support from the general public it might have had.

Consumers/individuals will need to get on board at some point if the Affordable Care Act is going to work. Those in Washington can set the tone by doing what is right and doing what makes sense for us today.

Both sides need to have open minds. Instead of barreling “full steam ahead” regardless of the costs just to meet deadlines, DHHS (Department of Health and Human Services) should step back and (as a good Top Gun quote goes) “evaluate what has happened so you can apply what you’ve learned.”

Washington needs to work together to fix what needs fixing.

That’s what we elected them to do.