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Opinion editor’s note: Strib Voices publishes a mix of guest commentaries online and in print each day. To contribute, click here. We are at a dangerous moment for health coverage — and with it, our ability to get health care. If you looked only at the congressional battle over funding the federal government, you’d think that Americans were deeply opposed over health coverage. The Democrats are fighting to save enhanced subsidies for the 24 million Americans who get their coverage through Affordable Care Act (ACA) marketplaces. Trump insists that “[t]he cost of Obamacare is out of control, plus it’s not good Healthcare,” and most Republicans, who control Congress, are taking their cues from him. But in key respects, Americans are not opposed on health care. A new poll of 1,319 people who voted in 2024 found that overwhelming bipartisan majorities agree that health care is not affordable. They believe that health insurance should protect them from medical debt. A majority of Republicans and Democrats agree that insurers should not be able to deny coverage based on a person’s medical history and that sick people shouldn’t have to pay more than healthy people for coverage. In fact, a majority in both parties support keeping the very enhanced subsidies that our representatives and senators are fighting over. Protecting the ACA will help achieve these goals. The ACA requires most insurance plans to cover the services most people need, makes standard plans available to nearly all Americans, and helps people pay for coverage that they otherwise couldn’t afford. It also provides ways to remain covered if you lose your coverage. Some powerful Republicans, however, want to weaken the ACA with the goal of ultimately eliminating it and returning to the bad old days before it was enacted. House Speaker Mike Johnson recently called the ACA’s creation “sinister” and said it was “created to implode upon itself.” Others simply want to “repeal all of Obamacare.” This will not reduce costs. The problem is that the cost of health insurance is fundamentally tied to the price of health care. When prices go up, or when more covered health care services are provided per person, so does the cost of insurance.
