Despite Republican high jinks, Obamacare may prove popular

Despite Republican high jinks, Obamacare may prove popular

When President Lyndon Johnson passed Medicare in the mid-1960s, the Republicans went along, kicking and screaming, just as they are now with what they call Obamacare.

President Ronald Reagan called Medicare socialism and hated it. The Republican Congress has voted 39 times to repeal Obamacare and failed. The reason they keep doing that is simple — to scare the American people into thinking it must be horrendous or else they wouldn’t keep trying to repeal it.

Yes it’s complicated, but already there are working-class people who have seen their premiums cut in half. Republicans depend on people not understanding the intricacies of the new Affordable Care Act. They think people don’t get intricacies of the law such as one in which insurance companies can’t kick you off your insurance anymore because all of a sudden you actually need the coverage you have been paying for.

Everybody with pre-existing conditions, beginning in 2014, cannot be denied insurance at affordable rates; children can be covered under their parents’ plan until they’re 26 years old. Big pharm aceuticals will be held accountable for their actions, where today there is no oversight. There will be health exchanges, which the states will oversee. I believe in time, some believe sooner rather than later, the wrinkles will shake out, and it will be welcomed just as Medicare is today.

The Republicans want us to think they will save us from this horrible idea, but the fact is, it’s the law, and it’s here to stay. But if it doesn’t work out, I have a great idea. How about if Congress votes to give every legal American the exact same health care coverage that members of Congress enjoy?

Richard Kerrigan, Girard