We were wrong! We were wrong! The title of this website aside, The Wrong Wing had predicted in multiple posts, even as late as this morning, that the Supreme Court would slash down the Affordable Care Act, after all, they had given the middle finger to the American people more than a few times before…
Terrific news from Washington DC today as the United State’s Supreme Court ruled that the Affordable Care Act was constitutional and the thorniest issue, that of the individual mandate, was valid as a federal tax. The news is a huge victory for President Obama but much more importantly, it shifts the fundamental focus of medicine in America from that of treatment to that of care.
Thank you John Roberts
The Affordable Care Act, as we have often said, is not perfect. Parts of it looked impossible constitutionally considering the current judges’ leans. But it is, however, the step that the nation needs to take to dissolve the profit-oriented interests of people and corporations who are supposed to be providing care. Insurance has always been counter-intuitive; why would you sign up for a plan where you pay money just in case you are injured or need treatment for a disease, and when that time comes the person you have been giving money to this whole time tries to fight to save every cent, at the expense of effective treatment?
Now, at least, everyone will be insured, or at least bearing the costs of the nation’s healthcare. Right now, taxpayers and the national debt fund people’s care who aren’t insured and who don’t pay their medical bills. This is a huge reason why healthcare is more expensive. That cost should start to come down as the costs are shifted across the spectrum.
But all of these points pale in comparison to the fact that we as a nation have been able to start a dialog about the proper forms of healthcare and the ways that we pay for them. Our booming health crisis is only getting larger (pun intended), and there will need to be more seriously drastic steps taken on a federal level to head off a disaster. The Affordable Care Act at least starts to get everyone, especially the troublesome people who rebuffed paying their bills, into health schemes where they should in theory see a doctor every once in a while and who might be able to nip problems before they grow into chronic diseases.
The Wrong Wing has always said that we don’t have a healthcare system, we have a stop-you-from-dying system. Once you are brought back from the brink of death, a hospital rep shows up with forms and asks for your insurance card. Now, everyone will have one, in the hope that the health system will provide just a little more care, and perhaps a few more moments to recover before hounding you about what treatment you can afford.
