Heritage Foundation on Health Care

Fully repealing ObamaCare is important, but not sufficient

There are many reasons to repeal ObamaCare. ObamaCare creates $1.8 trillion in new health care spending and uses cuts to Medicare spending to help pay for some of it. Millions of Americans already have lost their coverage because of ObamaCare. Many Americans have not been able to keep their doctors as insurers try to offset the added costs of ObamaCare by limiting the number of providers in their networks. In spite of the promise, the law increases the cost of health coverage. ObamaCare contains 18 separate tax increases, fees and penalties. ObamaCare has made yet another problem worse--creating a government exchange that is less competitive than the prior individual market.

Providing basics ok; telling people what to buy is not ok

If we must make sure that someone has enough resources to afford a basic level of health care, then I agree government has a financial role. But beyond assuring that the basics are affordable, I find it hard to accept that government should tell me, my doctor, and my insurer exactly what benefits should be in my health plan--and what I must pay for.

This is not just a matter of freedom & constitutional principle. Once the government requires us to have specific benefits, lobbyists will move heaven and earth to make sure their clients' services and procedures get added to the must-buy list

Replace mandates; let consumers decide on coverage

It's preposterous to think that Congress could write one bill and suddenly manage an enterprise that constitutes fully one-sixth of the nation's economy. No wonder the administration is having such problems figuring out how to implement ObamaCare. They've already had to jettison an entire important section of the legislation, dealing with long-term care, because it was totally unworkable.

Figuring out the most efficient way to provide a service, according to the needs and preferences of individuals, is something the private sector does very well and the government does really poorly.