An Unhealthy Attitude
In a glaring example of how divided our nation has be come, almost half the country is still refusing to comply with the law of the land. At this writing, 21 of the states in our Union have enacted laws and measures to opt out of or oppose provisions in the Affordable Care Act. Many of these states are refusing to set up state-based exchanges, making it harder for their citizens to utilize the law and find the healthcare coverage they need. Twenty-three states have also rejected Medicaid expansion, a key provision of the ACA.
This kind of stubbornness is all about political ideology and has nothing to do with providing a democratic population with adequate choices in healthcare. Opponents of the law have been focusing primarily on the issue of mandates and penalties—an issue already resolved by the United States Supreme Court—while ignoring the fact that blocking full ACA implementation would leave behind people that don’t qualify for insurance subsidies or traditional Medicaid. That’s a huge segment of the population. Cutting them out doesn’t make any ethical or economic sense. A country’s workforce has to be healthy and productive to contribute to growth and progress.
