ACA needs more than just an apology

Elijah Anderson

One summer day I solitarily sat in the sandbox of a playground I frequented as a youth. There, I contently played with my favorite toy police car while lost in the fantasies of my 3-year-old mind. But, in my childhood ignorance, I remained blissfully unaware of the all-consuming devastation walking my way in the form of a little boy about my age.

That little tyrant marched into the peaceful adobe that was the sandbox and promptly stole my police car. His reply to my screams and demands to give it back was a cold “I’m sorry.” His stupid, smug grin is still burned in the back of my mind and here I am 18 years later still upset. I want my toy back.

I cannot help but imagine this is the sentiment shared by the millions of Americans who have had their insurance plans ripped away by the Affordable Care Act. After all, much like the reply that devilish little boy gave me, President Obama has responded to these Americans with a petty and empty “I’m sorry.” Likewise, as much as I loved my police car and wanted to keep it, it was taken away by unstoppable force just as many prized insurance packages have been stripped away by this legislation that Mrs. Pelosi told us had to be passed to know what was in it…

Jokes aside, President Obama broke a promise to the American people. How many times did we hear him assure us that if you “like your health care plan… you will be able to keep your health care plan [and] no one will take it away…no matter what.” Granted, a politician breaking a promise is nothing revolutionary and is in fact expected. But a broken promise on such a large scale as this is nothing to gloss over. Thus, how many Americans is this going to effect?

According to CNN, there are an estimated 12 million Americans who are in danger of having their current insurance coverage dropped. These are Americans who are mandated to buy an insurance plan, but do not meet the subsidy requirements for lower premiums and have been dropped by their previous insurer for a variety of reasons. Thus, they face having to pay more money for worse coverage. Talk about an unfortunate turn of events for a law that was supposedly implemented to supply affordable health care all around.

Hopefully, Mr. Obama can gain some trust back with his new promise to do all in his power to fix this unexpected issue. Until then, 12 million other Americans and I will be longing for our toy police cars to return. I won’t be holding my breath.