To the editor: Business columnist Michael Hiltzik claims that Republicans have tried to kill Obamacare “without offering a cogent explanation why” (“Republicans don’t have a healthcare plan, just a plan to kill Obamacare,” Dec. 17). But guess what? The demands to subsidize skyrocketing premiums are de facto proof that Obamacare has failed. What more do we need to declare it unaffordable and in need of radical revision or replacement?
The American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 and Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 extended subsidies through 2025, expiring now. Cries to spend billions more to keep Obamacare alive prove that going forward is unsustainable. The old saying “good money after bad” has never been more relevant.
When an objective, nonpartisan, fact-based evaluation of the future of funding Obamacare is done, there can be no stronger case for “killing” it than the current crisis. The column cherry-picks a few facts and studies that would excuse the lead-up to its current demise, with no mention of alternative proposals.
Hiltzik ignores the tens of billions of dollars the feds pay to enable the state programs. California’s Medicaid program has been challenged with recent high-profile cuts to its federal funding. Underlying these omissions, he offers no solution for the people who will “vote with their feet” when insurance premium shock arrives.
Raymond Roth, Oceanside
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To the editor: From the very outset, the ACA was a good idea but poorly designed and totally underfunded.
Unfortunately, the legislative branch of our government doesn’t seem to care, and the Los Angeles Times would seemingly rather bash Republicans than offer solutions to the problem.
If we are going to be honest, we need to admit that our entire healthcare system is poorly designed and underfunded. For years, the annual report of the Social Security and Medicare Trustees has recommended that “the lawmakers address the projected trust fund shortfalls in a timely way in order to phase in necessary changes gradually and give workers and beneficiaries time to adjust to them.” Maybe, if members of Congress had the same healthcare as the rest of us, they would consider this a more urgent problem.
Until Congress decides to face the totality of our healthcare system, I have little to no hope.
Kevin Minihan, Westchester
