One of the frustrations of the GOP ObamaCare repeal and replace effort is that their offering neither repeals nor replaces ObamaCare. While there are a range of reasons provided for the GOP’s inability to pass a wholesale repeal, one of the more alarming is that Americans have apparently decided that the federal government has an obligation to guarantee health insurance.
Because of this shift in Americans’ perception of the role of government in the healthcare industry, Charles Krauthammer predicts that we will have a single-payer system within seven years.
Watch:
Transcript from Real Clear Politics:
CHARLES KRAUTHAMMER: I think historically speaking we are at the midpoint. We had seven years of Obamacare, a change in expectations. And I would predict that in less than seven years, we will be in a single-payer system. I think that’s the great irony of this.Obamacare failed at every level. Politically, the Democrats were crushed over six years and four elections, whereas you say, they lost seats in the House, the Senate, the governorships, etc. largely because of Obamacare.It failed on the ground, as was pointed out earlier. The insurers are in a death spiral. The Obamacare exchanges are collapsing. You’ve had these exchanges, these community exchanges completely disintegrating. But the irony is in the end, I think Obamacare wins the day because it changed expectations.Look at the terms of the debate. Republicans are not arguing the free market anymore. They have sort of accepted the fact that the electorate sees health care as not just any commodity. It’s not like purchasing a steak or a car. It is something people now have a sense that government ought to guarantee.
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