The Obama Administration has celebrated the Supreme Court’s positive ruling on the healthcare individual mandate, but there’s still more to be done. Meaningful insurance reform and expanded insurance coverage for millions of Americans may earn him a place in the history books, but the process isn’t over yet.
Former Sen. Tom Daschle (D-S.D.), who once served as majority leader, writes at politico.com that there’s a road ahead to make healthcare reform a reality and not negate or undermine what has already been accomplished.
First, according to Daschle, is the repeal measure the House Republicans plan to force a vote on. But “there is no chance a repeal will be signed into law,” he reported, as Democrats comprise the majority seat.
Don’t tell that to healthcare reform opponents, though. House Republicans telegraphed their displeasure with the Affordable Care Act (ACA) by launching “an all-out assault Tuesday against President Barack Obama's signature healthcare reform law,” according to CNN, holding hearings and other events before a planned vote Wednesday on repealing the measure.
And that doesn’t even take into consideration all the states now saying they will not expand Medicaid to cover the uninsured or create health information exchanges, as required by the ACA.
Congress is also still under great pressure to reduce budgets. And guess what pops up in the crosshairs first? Healthcare reform, including insurance subsidies, Medicare and Medicaid, funding for pilot projects and further implementation of the law will all be candidates for budgetary review, according to Daschle. And loss of adequate funding now “could seriously undermine our ability to move forward with many of the law’s cornerstone elements.”
Don’t forget the most compelling challenge of all: November 6, and the presidential election. “The policy consequences of the election will be most immediately and compellingly felt in connection with healthcare reform," said John McDonough, DPH, MPA, of the Harvard School of Public Health, quoted by abcnews.go.com.
Edited by
Braden Becker
