The truth about Obamacare

Want the truth about Obamacare and not just political spin?

Then turn to Kaiser Health News. The site constantly updates with the latest on the Affordable Care Act.

For instance, it is reporting that with less than eight weeks to go before the official launch of the new health care marketplaces under the federal health law, backers of the law are ramping up to encourage people to sign up.

"But there’s another effort gearing up this month as well," the news service reports. "Opponents of the health care law are making one last-ditch effort to run Obamacare off the rails before it gets fully implemented."

Probably the most aggressive effort is coming from FreedomWorks, a conservative advocacy group. It’s urging people, particularly young people, not to sign up for health insurance.

“They can skip the exchange, pay the fine, and in doing that, do what’s best for them financially, and we hope help hasten the collapse of Obamacare,” said Dean Clancy, the group’s vice president for policy.

Now let's take a closer look at what Clancy is saying. He wants young people to game the system. He also is tacitly suggesting they ignore their own health care by gambling that because they are young, they needn't worry about health issues.

However, young people are very susceptible to problems like high blood pressure or cholesterol. Even someone who is only 27 can prevent a lot of damage by discovering this at an early stage.

Also, although young people disproportionately do not use the health system, when they do and lack  insurance, the rest of us have to pay for it if they end up in the emergency room due to, say, a traffic accident. Federal law requires hospitals to provide emergency care, regardless of cost.

Although young people may not get the return on their health insurance that senior citizens do, when they do need the system, they will want it to be healthy. That's why they need to pay their way now.

Summing up, everyone needs to do their share. Freeloaders ought to be discouraged. That's just the American Way.  

To be sure, ACA may not be a perfect law. But it will provide coverage to millions of individuals, saving the rest of us the high cost of emergency care in the process.  If there is a better way to do it, let's reform Obamacare.