“The once-steady stream of regulations and rules from the Obama administration — instructions for insurance companies, hospitals and states on how to put the law in place — has slowed to a trickle in recent months in an attempt to avoid controversies before the election. Many states, too, have done little public work to avoid making the law an election issue for state officials on the ballot.”
“Some low-wage employers are moving toward hiring part-time workers instead of full-time ones to mitigate the health-care overhaul’s requirement that large companies provide health insurance for full-time workers or pay a fee. Several restaurants, hotels and retailers have started or are preparing to limit schedules of hourly workers to below 30 hours a week.”
“On Tuesday, Americans will go to the polls to choose whether or not to nationalize their health-care system. The choice for president will have numerous other consequences. But in most cases we will be choosing between tendencies shrouded in uncertainty. The candidates have staked out positions and made some explicit promises—but how these work out in practice will depend on many future contingencies, and many an earnest campaign promise has been confounded or even reversed in the past. The health-care choice is singular not only for its importance but for its certainty.”