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 […]
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.