Outside Of Washington, There Is A New Vital Center In Health Care Reform

Republicans in Congress are mired in political quicksand. Following passage of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) in 2010, they locked themselves into a promise to repeal and replace it at the behest of ultra-conservative donors and party activists who control the GOP’s nomination process. Since 2010, however, Americans and rank-and-file Republicans increasingly came to expect help meeting the rising costs of medical care and insurance and to accept the ACA’s tangible programs to address these concrete challenges. The Democrats created their own political trap. They passed the ACA on the promise of making health care affordable but deductibles and rising premiums continued to present a burden to many Americans. Both parties are missing, however, the vital center on health reform that has formed since 2010. Americans are frustrated with Democrats for not delivering on their promise of affordability, and they are now alarmed with Republican efforts to repeal—instead of improve—the ACA’s coverage of costs. Tracking Changes In Public Opinion Most public opinion polls are unable to track these changes in opinion about health care because they are only snapshots, drawn from a moment in time. To remedy this, we have been gathering panel data, tracking the views of the same group of Americans every two years since the ACA’s passage in 2010. This equips us to study how individuals respond to the ACA as they experience or learn more about the law’s provisions over time...
Source: Health Affairs Blog - Category: Health Management Authors: Tags: Following the ACA Insurance and Coverage ACA repeal and replace Arthur M. Schlesinger Jr. Source Type: blogs