Obamacare at 16: An Unhappy Birthday
23rd March 2026
March 23, 2010. Sixteen years ago, President Barack Obama signed the Affordable Care Act into law, thus locking into statutory concrete the dysfunctional status quo that burdens us today. Recall this was Obama’s “signature” legislative achievement.
Of course, Obama’s congressional allies knew exactly what they were doing. They conscientiously read and fully grasped the 2,700-page product they were enacting. Right?
Well, not to worry, said then-Democrat House Speaker Nancy Pelosi: “We have to pass the bill so you can find out what is in it—away from the fog of the controversy.”
Also, do not forget Obama’s absurd promises, just to name a few: If you liked your health plan, you could keep it, and nothing would change; the bill would create robust and competitive health insurance markets; the bill would expand access to high quality health care; the bill would save the typical family $2,500 in yearly health care costs; and the bill would bend the soaring health care cost curve downward.
So, what have Obama and congressional Democrats wrought? After 16 years, they have imposed a complex health care law that is unaffordable and dysfunctional.