In late 2009 and early 2010, as the bills that became the ACA were being debated in Congress and nationwide, I was often asked – both in private conversations and media interviews – if the health care reform law was designed intentionally to fail, in order to demonstrate the “necessity” of a complete government takeover of health care. I always responded that I’m not a mind-reader – I can read the proposed or actual legislation, but not the mind of the person who wrote it. I can’t say whether it was designed intentionally to fail, but I can say that due to its design, it will very likely fail.
With the recent announcement that UnitedHealth is withdrawing from most ACA Exchange markets – after losing $1 billion in only two years – and that the withdrawal potentially leaves almost 30% of enrollees with only one or two insurance companies to choose from, this failure may be evident sooner than we realize.
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