Former Pres. Barack Obama’s main legacy, Obamacare, has gone from guarded condition to Critical Condition this year. Unfortunately for the ex-president, he left his political party in shambles, dispirited and of minority status all around. Anthem, one of only five public insurers, is getting out of Ohio’s affordable care act individual insurance marketplace for the upcoming year. Not only will this leave 18 to 20 counties in the state with no insurers for Obamacare clients but it comes on the heels of a massive exodus of Blue Cross Blue Shield from eastern Missouri and may open floodgates through which insurers would flee Obamacare marketplaces all across the country.
Failure of Obamacare strengthens Republican claims
Before Democrats passed the strictly partisan health care bill under speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate leader Harry Reid in 2010, Republicans said Democrats would use the so-called Affordable Care Act to destroy the U.S. Health Care System and force the country into government healthcare. The latest failures of Obamacare tend to support those Republicans charges.
Republicans won't put Humpty Dumpty back together
Ironically, under Obama, the Democratic Party has gone from a veto-proof majority - that could have put Humpty Dumpty back together again or convert him to government health care system - to a withered minority party that is having trouble expressing its vision for the country.
Essentially, it’s up to Republicans to put Humpty Dumpty back together again, or repeal and replace. After suffering massive electoral losses in November, including the White House, the Democrats won’t get a second chance at health care reform. Republicans have proposed their own health care program that would replace Obamacare after it is repealed.
Unfortunately for the Democratic Party, Obamacare was never really very popular, according to national polls and Democrats will now be forced to defend it as a minority party with Pelosi still at the now minority party's helm.
Experts say Obamacare may self-destruct
Anthem’s exit from Ohio signals a potential exodus of the company from huge sectors in the country where it is the sole insurer, according to Cynthia Cox of the Kaiser Family Foundation.
"Anthem’s exit from Ohio could be the tip of the iceberg," Cox told Business Insider on Tuesday. "Their reasons for leaving don’t appear to be specific to Ohio….”
Obama had no coattails
The larger problem for Obama’s healthcare legacy is that his coattails were tightly tucked into his golf shorts on November 8 and his legacy is now in the hands of Republicans. Should Anthem pullout of the exchanges it insures in 13 remaining states it could signal a quick end to his signature legislation. Due to Obamacare’s strictly partisan origins, Democrats wanting preserve the troubled healthcare system can expect little help from across the aisle.
