Obamacare turns two, costs still rising as point of no return nears

It has been two years since Obamacare has signed into law, and the costs keep climbing. Through 2022, taxpayers are on the hook for gross costs of $1.75 trillion, a 10-year figure that will only continue to rise as we near the law’s full implementation years. It has already resulted in more than 2,000 pages of new regulations — more than 2.13 million words — five times longer than the statute itself.

In 2014, the individual mandate — barring a Supreme Court ruling this summer — is still set to go into effect. That is the point of no return. As millions of Americans change their professions, they will lose their current health-care plans, and because of the mandate, be forced into government-run, taxpayer-subsidized insurance exchanges. As a result, they will be driven off privately run plans into a labyrinthine bureaucracy of red tape and rationing.

Irrevocably, this law will interfere with life-and-death decisions best left to doctors and patients, and as the government runs out of money, will reduce benefits and increase costs. The American people were better off with a system with real choices that they fund themselves, instead of this government-run nightmare.                    

Bill Wilson is president of Americans for Limited Government (ALG), which describes itself as a non-partisan, nationwide network committed to advancing free-market reforms, private property rights, and core American liberties. This editorial is drawn from a news release ALG issued March 19.