The Morality Tale of Health Care Reform

Few domestic political issues have gotten more recent airtime than health care. After years of denouncing the Affordable Care Act (ACA), congressional leaders from the party in power have been determined to repeal and replace it, and President Trump has repeatedly urged their efforts forward. But their replacement plan—the Better Care Reconciliation Act (BCRA)—garnered a national fury that its designers have not been able to assuage. Though the effort appeared dead last week after enough Republican senators signaled their refusal to vote for the secretly crafted and little vetted bill, revision efforts continued, and the Senate is slated to take it up once more this week. Fewer than 20 percent of Americans approve of these efforts, and large numbers have actively resisted by marching, tweeting, calling their elected officials and confronting them in town halls, demonstrating inside the Capitol Building, and otherwise making their voices heard.