For its opponents, Obamacare is a disaster - a classic example\nof over-reach by an Administration that wants to expand the size\nand scope of the Federal government.
\nSupporters say The Affordable Care Act is a triumph, benefiting\ncountless millions of Americans, while reducing the threat of\npersonal bankruptcies in medical emergencies crippling healthcare\ncosts.
\n\"We have decreased the rate of\nthe uninsured by about a third,\" says our guest Megan McArdle, a\ncolumnist at Bloomberg View. But Obamacare poses a\npotentially fatal threat.
\n\"What people are doing is they're gaming the system.\" Some with\nhealth emergencies, who have inadequate medical insurance are\n\"signing up for a few\nmonths, using a ton of services and then dropping it\nagain.\"
\nSeveral large insurance companies say they are losing money on\nthe government-run exchanges. UnitedHealth, the nation's largest\nhealth insurance firm, warned it would have to pull out if market\nconditions didn't improve. Exchange enrollments are lower than the\ngovernment had forecast.
\nIs Obamacare the victim of \"an\nadverse death spiral\"? Are costs rising faster than\nexpected? Do Americans have unrealistic expectations that\nwould doom any attempt to provide better coverage?
\nWe debate the arguments from different points of view and\nsuggest a fix that could involve consumers more directly in cost\ndecisions, while putting a ceiling on heath care costs for each\nhousehold.
\nMegan McArdle is the author of \"The Upside of Down: Why Failing\nWell Is The Key To Success.\"
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