Few issues have generated controversy as intense as the Affordable Care Act (ACA), often called Obamacare. Many employers have objected to it as increasing their cost of doing business; they, and many politicians as well, have objected to various mandates of the act that they regard as not falling within the legitimate scope of government. Others have argued that the ACA seeks to lower costs, or at least lower the rate at which costs increase, and that it addresses a number of issues that polling indicates are popular with the American public, such as being able to purchase insurance with a preexisting condition, children staying on their parents' insurance until age 26, and no lifetime caps on medical expenses. In general, its supporters argue …show more content…
(For those who are retired, unemployed, or in poverty, other plans are designed to offer coverage, such as Medicare and Medicaid.) It is not clear that this is an ideal, or even efficient way to offer health care. Because it is illegal for a hospital to turn away someone in need of health care, many who are not insured receive their health care at emergency rooms, which is the most expensive form of treatment. In short, the American health care system is one of the most expensive in the world, yet it achieves outcomes that are regarded by many as substandard. (Thus, according to the National Center for Health Statistics, the United States spends twice as much on health care per capita [$7,129] as any other country, yet ranks 30th in infant mortality and 50th in life expectancy [ http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/]). The argument that health care is a right also takes different forms; some have been offered on the basis of obligatory Christian charity, others in the name of economic efficiency, and still others that appeal to the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights (for which the United States