In large measure, the reason Donald Trump was elected against the desires of the GOP, and later the Democrats, is that he is neither.
The inability to get the health care revision bill passed emphasizes why Americans elected Trump: to break up the caucuses driven by special interests and to get things done in Washington. He is not a politician, which is why this seems so awkward, but it’s for the best.
Obamacare needs major changes. It is like one of those cheap hospital gowns that ties in the back that nurses give you. It makes you feel like you are covered, but you know your backside is exposed.
The Dems know Obamacare is in a “death spiral,” as Aetna’s CEO recently said. They are just looking for someone to blame. As Trump said, it would be smarter politically for Republicans to watch it explode further on the American people, since all the goodies were front-end loaded and the costs were put in like a time bomb to explode when Obama was gone.
In short, bad will get worse.
So this is a chance to get it right, not rush it through like then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi did with her infamous words, “We have to pass the bill so you can find out what is in the bill."
Somehow, Americans think that insurance companies will not increase prices when they are forced to cover somebody's lay-about kid until he is 26 or walks in with a pre-existing condition, like needing a heart transplant. A recent and astonishing CBS poll of millennials found they do not consider themselves adults until age 30. Think we have coddled them too much?
There is no such thing as a free lunch. Somehow, liberals are shocked by such a hard economic truth: Businesses charge extra when you make them provide more.
Now deductibles are higher and premium costs in some states have increased over 100 percent. Yes, there are more people covered, but when a law is passed that if you do not buy health insurance from us you go to jail, of course, more people are forced to have coverage.
Most were eligible for Medicaid anyway.
It is a shell game, hard to untangle in just one bill. All I know is competition, tort reform and a true free market pricing of insurance are the answers.
Health insurance is the only business where the consumer, you, has no idea of the price, does not shop for best quality, has no idea who is paying for it and what he or she will owe. You can thank regulations.
Consumer choice is the key. Under Obamacare, the only choices were to buy the farm, sell the family jewels, or push up daisies.
If the hard right prevents Obamacare reform from happening, Trump needs to work with moderate Democrats to get it done.
He is one of the few presidents in modern times who could artfully do a “deal.”
Ron Hart, a libertarian op-ed humorist and award-winning author, is a frequent guest on CNN. Contact him at Ron@RonaldHart.com or @RonaldHart on Twitter.
This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Let's fix Obamacare the right way