If Democrats aren’t worried about President Obama’s “Problems? What problems?” response to the multiple glitches and snafus of his ObamaCare rollout, they should be. The public is deeply suspicious of the law and it wouldn’t take much to create an electoral backlash...While it is possible that some of the kinks could be worked out shortly after rollout, it is just as possible that some, perhaps even most, of them will plague us for a year or more. And the public will know who to blame if those problems persist.
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Impeded access to doctors = rationing health care.
The U.S. already has a shortage of doctors.
Recent studies indicate that within seven years that shortage could rise to 45,000 primary care physicians. Fewer doctors means it will be harder to see one in a timely manner. The Affordable Care Act will make that problem much worse by greatly increasing the demand for doctors.
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You can just imagine all those middle-class Americans complaining about how they used to be able to get in to see their doctor—until ObamaCare kicked in.
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Timely access to a doctor is a key component of what people see as a quality health care system. Americans will likely see it as the government rationing care, even if it is just a result of supply and demand.
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Higher costs means fewer votes.
Two-thirds of workers with single coverage and 57 percent of workers with family coverage will see their costs go up in the exchange. In addition,
recent stories claim that some of the premiums are lower than expected because the copays and deductibles are so high.
Those forced to pay higher out-of-pocket costs, as well as higher premiums, will perceive that ObamaCare is hurting them financially and voters may well decide to return that pain on those who forced them to pay more.
Complexity = failure. ObamaCare is complex. There are numerous rules about who qualifies for what subsidies and additional help. The technology was supposed to handle much of the complexity, but we hear that many of the exchanges aren’t yet ready for prime time. That complexity could frustrate a lot of people who may see it as a failure because they can’t figure it out.
The drawbacks to clawbacks. If you qualify for a subsidy based on your estimated 2014 income and then make more than you estimated, you will be required to pay back part of that subsidy at the end of the year. And those who received too much subsidy may discover that problem during “open season” in 2014 when they begin considering their coverage for 2015. That open season will start about three weeks before the November elections. Those having to write the government a clawback check, which could easily be more than a thousand dollars, may want to engage in a little November clawback themselves.
Personal info becomes public info. A lot of people, government officials as well as non-government employees, will have access to your health information, income and other valuable data. They could snoop or they could share it with others, even if by mistake—just look at recent incidents by the IRS and National
Security Agency.
We are likely to see a lot of security breaches—indeed, we already are. Some will be intentional, some won’t. But there will be a lot of them.
It could undermine Democrats’ faith in efficient big government. Everything Obama does is based on his faith in big government’s ability to do things right...
While Obama has made it clear he would prefer a single-payer health care system...ObamaCare is close enough. But if it crashes, it will undermine his and Democrats’ claims.
