The Obamacare Debacle

It took too long, but last week President Obama finally offered an apology for the disastrous launch of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) or Obamacare.

It was meant to be his signature domestic policy achievement. Instead, he has served up to his detractors on a silver platter the opportunity to overturn a reform that should change the lives of millions of Americans for the better.

First, the catastrophic October launch of the HealthCare.gov website prevented hundreds of thousands from purchasing a healthcare plan under the new law. Only 106,000 obtained coverage under Obamacare in the first month. That’s shameful.

If that weren’t enough, millions have seen or will see their insurance policies canceled because they do not meet the minimum requirements under Obamacare, despite the fact that the president tirelessly repeated the now regretfully famous phrase, “if you like your insurance, you can keep it.” Making a promise that he knew he couldn’t keep is unforgivable.

Obama provided a temporary fix for the cancellations by authorizing insurance companies to extend the policies for one year. That will depend on the insurance commissions in each state.

Now he has to struggle with the political fallout. The alternative approved by the House of Representatives —which will not survive the Senate and which he would veto in any case— garnered the support of 39 Democratic lawmakers facing tough reelections.

But now is not the time to give up. The mission was to create an affordable healthcare system for all Americans. We cannot forget the 40 million still without health coverage who could benefit from Obamacare.

We maintain that the law was needed, and in the end, we will all be better off with it than without it.