Tom Zimmerman: Improve ACA before it ‘explodes’

Regarding the March 25 news article “Opposition in GOP sinks repeal effort”: The long-touted Republican plan to repeal and replace the ACA has faltered, and the ACA will remain the law of the land for now.

The newly stated Republican position of doing nothing more for health care and simply letting the ACA self-destruct financially is akin to the boy who lost a schoolyard game and took the game ball home with him out of anger.

If politicians truly care about the welfare of their constituents, they would begin now to proactively make necessary improvements in the ACA before it does explode and abruptly deprives millions of residents of health insurance. Both sides of the aisle have agreed that the ACA has several laudable features. Why not build upon the strengths of the ACA and shore up its weaknesses?

One suggestion is to make the penalty for nonparticipation in the ACA equal to the cost of participation, with appropriate subsidies in place. This will reduce the average cost of insurance policies by balancing less healthy participants with healthy ones.

Many Western democracies have successfully implemented universal health care for their residents at a lesser cost than health care in the United States. Why can’t we accomplish this in America?

This story was originally published April 3, 2017 at 9:40 AM with the headline "Tom Zimmerman: Improve ACA before it ‘explodes’."