Is ObamaCare An Albatross?

A metaphor for a dead weight or burden that one must carry, especially when the burden is not a literal one but a stigma of some kind that one cannot easily discard or throw off. The name comes from a story about a sailor who killed an albatross that was following his ship, an act thought to bring bad luck upon the ship. His fellow sailors made him wear the dead albatross around his neck as penance to ward off the bad luck.

Definition of Albatross

The Wall Street Journal has labeled ObamaCare an albatross “The ObamaCare Albatross", November 5). The Journal did so largely on the basis of the Kentucky governor election, in which a Republican won the governor’s race for the first time in 40 years.
The winner, Matt Bevin, won by running against ObamaCare. Bevin said that Kentucky could no longer afford its Medicare expansion, the collapse of its ObamaCare exchange has left 51,000 residents without coverage, 40% of Kentucky hospitals had cut services because of soaring Medicaid costs, and ObamaCare exchange premiums will rise by 10% and more in 2016..

But is ObamaCare really an albatross? True, it has not delivered on its promising of cutting costs and expanding choice. But it has cut 17 million from the uninsured roles, subsidized nearly 9 million on the health exchanges, added 500,000 on Medicaid and the exchanges, and dropped the number of uninsured from 20.4% to 9.8% . That, by definition, is progress, note the Progressives.

Perhaps so, but Kentuckians and American people have yet to get the message.

In today’s Real Clear Politics, the average of national polls indicate Americans still oppose ObamaCare by 49.5% to 42.3%. Two years post rollout and five years post passage, Americans oppose the health law as strongly as even.

And it is generally acknowledged that ObamaCare is a potent factor in electing Republicans in conservative-leaning states. Since Obama took office. Democrats have lost 18 Senate seats, 69 House seats, 11 governor seats, 913 state legislative sears, and 30 state legislatures.

These losses make ObamaCare hard to implement and may foretell of major changes, even repeal, or replacement of the health law.

It’s hard to soar with the Democratic eagles when you’re dealing with Republican turkeys, who say they know an albatross when they see one.