No. Yet on Sunday, on CNN on “Fareed Zakaria, GPS,”Zakaria talked about the President’s second term after stating that in his first term, “ZAKARIA: He helped usher in universal health care in America.” Excuse me? The US, under Affordable Care as it stands, it neither has nor will have universal health care.
First, there is no public option. This is a big one. There is no public option for the vast majority of Americans, as a matter of fact, the expansion of the public option through an expansion of Medicaid to be offered by the states was specifically stricken down in the Supreme Court decision. This expansion would have helped insure the millions of young Americans unable to afford health insurance who have been hit hard by unemployment, many of whom are working part time jobs. Instead, the only option for them is to obtain health insurance by having their parents pay for it. Not universal health coverage.
Second, there is NO system in place that will prevent individuals from going bankrupt because of medical expenses. As a matter of fact, Affordable Care promises to create more money problems for Americans as cost-sharing policies between citizens and insurance companies take more money from insureds in addition to ever-climbing costs of medical services as well as insurance costs.
Third, there is no right to medical care. While individuals going to an emergency room have the right to get stabilized in an emergency situation, the US recognizes no right to medical care.
Fourth, there is NO guarantee of coverage to all US citizens. The Affordable Care Act incorporated incentives to support the compulsory purchase of insurance or face a tax but there is NO guarantee of insurance coverage based on citizenship, citizens must purchase health insurance from a private insurer if they are ineligible for Medicare/Medicaid.
The Affordable Care Act promises to be a way to get people to obtain and continue to pay for health INSURANCE. It provides no remedy for the costs of that insurance barring special circumstances based on the poverty level and current, though soon-to-be cannibalized commitments of Medicare.
Why should this kind of mischaracterization warrant at LEAST a correction from a media person pedaling his politics? Because not only is it inaccurate, but for people who rely on media for facts that they can use in their lives, this is a dangerous misdirection that can have a person believing that he or she will be able to obtain health care in our country based on a commitment to the right to healthcare and supported through eligibility for health care by right of being a citizen of this country, neither of which is the case.
