A cognitive dissonance has taken root amongst many Americans: they hate Obamacare but they enjoy the protections the Affordable Care Act (ACA) offers, including the elimination of lifetime coverage caps, allowing folks with pre-existing conditions to obtain and keep insurance, enabling young adults to stay on their parents’ insurance until the age of 26, and many other benefits. What many Americans who want to repeal Obamacare don’t realize is that Obamacare is the ACA, and it affects the entire health-care industry, not just the insurance exchanges. Repealing the ACA would also negatively impact the insurance plans Americans have through their employers.

The ACA is certainly not perfect. As President Obama recently stated, “(if) anyone can put together a plan that is demonstrably better than the improvements we've made to our health care system, that covers as many people at less cost, I will publicly support it.” We should continue the debate and look for better solutions than what we currently have. But until we can come to a new consensus, it would be irresponsible, disruptive, and downright dangerous for Congressional Republicans to eliminate the advances we have achieved under the ACA without having any realistic plan to replace it.

Lanae Blethen Kawa

Mystic