Obamacare cannot stand without its mandate

A federal judge in Texas recently struck down Obamacare as unconstitutional. He’s entirely correct.

With Republicans eliminating the individual mandate, what remains of Obamacare cannot stand on its own. It’s like a bar stool with only two legs.

The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (aka Obamacare) made patients less safe (byrestricting choice of doctor/treatment) and healthcare more expensive. But the problem it was originally intended to address was very real. Millions of Americans were going without insurance,getting sick, clogging up emergency rooms and running up debts they’d never be able to pay back.

So in 2009, Obama and congressional Democrats decided to completely redesign US healthcare in a bid to prevent sick people from ending up without insurance. The backroom deals they struck with insurers and lobbyists were murky to say the least. Ultimately, the Democrats hatched a half-baked compromise to keep everyone happy: All people would be forced to buy insurance, but insurers would also have to sell to everyone, even the very sick, for the same price.

It was certainly unconstitutional, but it made some sense— it was intended as a one-off “deal with the devil” in which everyone would get insured, and from then on keep their insurance.

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