That is the conundrum now over Obamacare, or the Affordable Care Act (ACA). It appears Americans are coalescing around the idea of fixing or repairing the unpopular parts of ACA rather than repealing it. So far, the law has been rolled out with the following popular and unpopular components:

Popular

  • children stay on parents plans to age 26
  • elimination of pre-existing condition clauses
  • guarantee issue for individual policies
  • free “wellness” programs
  • subsidies based on income

Unpopular

  • individual mandate
  • emerging “narrow networks” trend
  • employer taxes (still largely unknown to the population at large)

So does repair mean…

  • richer subsidies?
  • elimination of the individual AND employer mandate?
  • regulation of carriers to offer more robust choices?
  • elimination of employer taxes?
  • repeal of the “cadillac” tax?

Reading the law and seeing how the financing of it is projected, it seems more unpopular items need to be implemented. The law’s taxes, mandates and medicare cost reductions will not be popular, but are essential. If you see another way of stabilizing this law over the long run, please let me know. Perhaps a single payer system? Maybe Google will come to the rescue.

To read more on this topic, Americans want to Fix, Not Repeal Obamacare, or Politifact’s Truth-o-Meter on Which is more unpopular: Obamacare or repealing Obamacare?