Quote Originally Posted by Seamus Fermanagh View Post
I did not label it a conspiracy, nor a plot. It has been a prime agenda item for more than a generation. They deeply and truly believe it to be the best option for healthcare for the nation. The believed, and do believe, that the broadened coverage (more people covered) generated by the ACA to have been an improvement over the status quo ante. But I refuse to believe they are stupid. They would have had sense to know that expanded coverage had to be paid for by someone and that this would result in the increased premiums and deductibles we are noting today. Nor has it taken the Dems any time whatsoever to push for the enactment of a "public option" in markets where the number of insurers has dropped to one, undercutting competition.

I don't believe they had some nefarious plot in mind taken from some bad movie plot. I think they did this as a "best we can do so far" effort, knowing that the likely failures/cracks in the system would trend TOWARDS and not away from a national healthcare system. Since they believe that any other system is ultimately unfair and actively detrimental to many of our citizens, this isn't a plot but a process.

You are, also, very probably correct that such a government-run system will be a majority preference in the very near future -- polls already show nearly two-thirds in favor of government mandating health insurance in some form, with more than half believing that the system requires major changes -- and darn few of those calling for major change are thinking in terms of fee-for-service.

I do not own, nor seek to purchase, a tinfoil hat.

The GOP needs to repeal the ACA, effective about three years hence, and get HHS configured to run the new healthcare program. There are important questions to be answered, such as the German or Canadian model, the allowance or abolition of private doctoring and the like and these changes will not be well made "on the fly."
Not trying to be hostile, but you are making a big assertion, 'Dems knowingly passed legislation that could explode the health care system' and then trying to walk it back by stating they acted with good intentions. They needed to compromise to win red-state Dems, and they went with 1990s GOP policy. The crux here was making sure healthy people signed up in enough numbers to cover the cost of those with pre-existing conditions, which didn't happen. That's on the right-wing think tanks who came up with the policy, not the Dems for giving it a shot.