Healthcare Was Never the Enemy

Okay America—Let’s talk about Obamacare.

The Affordable Care Act has been the law of the land since 2010. For 15 years, it has helped Americans—yes, including you—pay for medication, get covered despite pre-existing conditions, and gain access to the kind of care that saves lives.

So let’s be honest:
You didn’t hate the policy.
You hated the president behind it.

Republicans lied to you—said it would ruin the country, kill jobs, and create death panels. None of that happened. The controversy, the heated debate, the summer of hate, and all the associated backlash had an impact. They stirred up enough fear and outrage to take back the House in 2010 in a red wave. And once in power, they had one obsession: repeal and replace.

The problem?
“Repeal and replace” was a catchphrase, not a plan.
Repeal sounded easy. Replace never showed up.

Then, in 2017, with Trump in office, they finally held a vote to gut the ACA. And in one of his last acts of defiance, John McCain gave it a dramatic thumbs-down and killed the bill.

So, what actually happened?

• You saw the doctor before it was too late.
• You kept your coverage through job loss or divorce.
• You paid a copay instead of selling your car.
• Your kid's asthma inhaler didn't cost a mortgage payment.
• Your insurer couldn't drop you for getting diabetes.

You didn’t oppose healthcare reform.
You opposed “Obamacare.”

As if the problem was the name.
But you gave it the name.

And you were lazy with the name anyway.

Twelve years earlier, at the beginning of the Clinton presidency, when Bill let the First Lady take point on healthcare reform (which aimed even closer to universal coverage), you mockingly called it “HillaryCare.”

Then, when it rolls around again, you don’t even try to come up with a clever new label—you just recycle the nickname from last time.
Why?
Because this time, the punchline is better.
This time, it’s not just a woman—it’s a Black guy, and with an un-American-sounding name, even. And somehow, that's even funnier to you.

But here's the thing:
You don’t have to be against it anymore.

All you have to do to be in favor of affordable healthcare is stop calling it Obamacare.
You can call it the Affordable Care Act, or the ACA, or Freedomcare, or “I-don’t-want-to-die-broke-care,” or just call it healthcare.
Call it whatever helps you sleep at night.

Just stop pretending you don’t want healthcare.

You do.
You always did.

You just didn’t want to give credit to the Black guy.

...I'm just saying.