Peter Suderman on What Obamacare Will Do For (Or To) You
It's a very big day for American health care: Today, the health insurance exchanges called for by the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act—a.k.a. Obamacare—open for enrollment, offering coverage that kicks in at the beginning of next year.
The exchanges are the core component of the largest and most transformative overhaul of the U.S. health system in decades, and the vehicle for the law's massive expansion of health coverage. And yet despite the fact that Obamacare has been law since 2010, no one knows quite what to expect as these government-run insurance marketplaces open for business.
Critics have warned of disaster, pointing to a slew of delays and technical troubles with the exchanges, and Congress has allowed the federal government to enter a partial shutdown as a result of conflict over the health law. Supporters of the law have promised that Obamacare will usher in a new age of widespread affordable coverage. But even President Obama has admitted that the rollout won't be without its "glitches and bumps."
Over the last week, Reason Senior Editor Peter Suderman asked a half dozen conservative and libertarian health policy experts what to expect from Obamacare in the coming days and months, and in the years beyond. Here's what they said.