Fellow at American Enterprise Institute faults
steps by the Obama administration to delay parts of the Affordable Care Act,
saying they amount to dismantling the program in ways that will make it harder
to sustain.
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The final
countdown is under way to sign up for health insurance under the Affordable
Care Act before this year’s open enrollment cycle closes on March 31.
Assuming the
deadline is not extended by the Obama administration, most consumers won’t be
able to sign up for health insurance again for many months.
After a
disastrous rollout, enrollment via HealthCare.gov and state insurance exchanges has
picked up, and recently surpassed the 5 million mark. But it’s unclear how many consumers have paid their
first month’s premium (a prerequisite for having coverage) or how many were
previously uninsured (the target demographic for the law).
In recent
months, we’ve checked in with insurance consultants and officials at the Kaiser Family Foundation and Commonwealth Fund to get their views about how
the law is working. Today, we check in with Dr. Scott Gottlieb, a resident
fellow at the American Enterprise Institute. It’s no secret that Gottlieb, a
physician and former deputy commissioner at the Food and Drug Administration,
is critical of the law. He’s written lucidly about it for Forbes
and others.