Republican sabotage costs people money

Has modern U.S. political history ever seen anything as vicious and irresponsible as the Republicans' deliberate efforts to sabotage the Affordable Care Act? They have deliberately tried to make policies more expensive with less coverage by denying funding authorized by the law to help consumers with premiums and insurance companies plan against uncertain risks. This forced out of business many nonprofit co-op plans intended by ACA to offer low-cost policies and increase competition, and continuing threats to refuse payments authorized by the law have made insurance companies even more uncertain about the risks they are undertaking.

This unnecessarily raises premiums, copays and deductibles. Millions of Americans are being forced to pay right now hundreds or even thousands of dollars more for insurance premiums and uncovered medical costs than they would be if Republicans would simply respect the law of the land. We know about the millions denied Medicaid out of sheer spite in Republican-controlled states, but the Republicans have also been trying to make health insurance more expensive with less coverage to build dissatisfaction with the law. To top it off, Mitch McConnell and other Republicans have the chutzpah to complain about the high costs and weaker coverage they have caused.

Deliberately forcing consumers to pay hundreds or thousands of dollars more than they should have to pay should get any member of Congress voted out of office. But has the press, including the Daily Herald, published anything to make the Republicans pay for it? Have they informed people who must buy policies on the exchanges how much they are being overcharged due to this sabotage? Will the Daily Herald recognize its responsibility to the public and hold the Republicans accountable for it?

Stephen Weber

Arlington Heights