Affordable Health Care, Obama, and the Supreme Court

I am not a justice on the Supreme Court.  I don't know what is in their minds or how they will vote on the issue before them with respect to 'Obamacare'.  Neither is President Obama!  While I give him the position of constitutional law scholar, I am certain that we both know that the court regularly rules on the constitutionality of congressional law and predicting the outcome here is mere sport.  Mostly I am concerned that he had the nerve to "warn" the court not to strike down his signature legislation that might, someday, form a piece of his legacy.  Of course given the separation of powers, he has no recourse but to accept whatever outcome there is.


Obama is said yesterday, "... (the court)  will not take what would be an unprecedented extraordinary step of overturning a law that was passed by a strong majority of a democratically elected Congress."

First, Is the President living in the same country I am?  What strong majority?  True, the congress was democratically elected.  The Democratic majority in the House of Representatives that passed this bill is gone and there are signs that they may lose their majority in the Senate.  The truth is that the congress of Pelosi originated and passed, by a very narrow partisan majority, a 2700 page bill that ushered in an unaffordable contract with America that will result in many people opting to pay a penalty under the individual mandate rather than pay for the plan that was put forward.  A defeat by the court would be good for the nation.  Most Republicans are now talking about replacing Obamacare with something else, not throwing out the idea in its totality.  If Mr. Obama gets any legacy in this, it is that the Republicans are now talking about replacing the ACA (Affordable Care Act) with a truly affordable package that preserves the important bits like allowances for pre-existing conditions, getting children on their parents insurance for a longer period, and offering a truly national package across all states.  Before Obamacare, all the GOP would support was Health Care Savings Accounts.  This is progress and the dialog is now there, thanks to Obama and Pelosi.  


Whether the court strikes down the individual mandate, the entire law, or none of the above, the ACA needs to be revised downward to a truly affordable package.  This massive overreach by the far left majority of 2008 needs to be pared down to something affordable by consumers and the government as well.

• Coverage for preexisting conditions that relies on a larger 'group' than insurance high risk panels.  Much like employer packages, the cost of high risk individuals would be spread over a larger base.
• Ability to keep your children on your health care until the child is 25 or 26.
• Tailor the cost of insurance to individual pocketbooks by allowing catastrophic coverage, 80/20 plans with high deductibles, optional prescription drug plans, etc.
• A requirement that Medicaid recipients accept generic substitutes where they exist and/or require a co-pay for non-generic drugs.  There could be a hardship trapdoor for this if deemed necessary.