Affordable Care Act Becomes A Reality

by Stuart Shapiro

The shouting still continues in some corners.  But with a Supreme Court decision and a presidential election, Obamacare is now and forever the law of the land.  So it’s time to start implementing it, and that is what the Department of Health and Human Services did this week with some of the most important provisions of the Act.

The Obama administration moved forward today to implement provisions in the health care law that would make it illegal for insurance companies to discriminate against people with pre-existing conditions. The provisions of the Affordable Care Act also would make it easier for consumers to compare health plans and employers to promote and encourage employee wellness.

“The Affordable Care Act is building a health insurance market that works for consumers,” said Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius. “Thanks to the health care law, no one will be discriminated against because of a pre-existing condition.”

See, while right-wingers may dream of a GOP repeal in 2016, by then these provisions will be benefiting millions of Americans who will treat politicians who threaten to repeal them like they treat ones who threaten Medicare.

By: Stuart Shapiro

Stuart is a professor and the Director of the Public Policy
program at the Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy at Rutgers
University. He teaches economics and cost-benefit analysis and studies
regulation in the United States at both the federal and state levels.
Prior to coming to Rutgers, Stuart worked for five years at the Office
of Management and Budget in Washington under Presidents Clinton and
George W. Bush.