Obamacare or the ACA has been a success, though as it exists, it is flawed in many ways and needs many changes to really work. It's been a success in that it brought millions of Americans into the health care system and woke people up to the necessity of health care being a fundamental right for all Americans. It did nothing to rein in the total cost of health care, which at 1/6 of the U.S. GDP is an obscene example of the so-called free market run amok. Health care for Americans will never be affordable without breaking the back of this so-called free market, where everybody gets "a piece of the action."

Unfortunately, the dialog about health care lacks any semblance of honesty. The system as it exists was crafted to protect corporate profits the insurance industry. The entire "fee for service" billing and collection structure is a millstone around our necks. It has produced a vast bureaucracy that serves no purpose except self-perpetuation. Worse yet, the insurance industry is a "cost plus" business. This has enabled the wild and absurd inflation of health care costs.

Rather than looking at the problem with honesty, I see our reps and people in general squabbling over nonsense. "Why should the young and healthy pay for the old and sick?" for example. Guess what? You will one day be old and sick! Pay now and benefit when you are in need. There is no free lunch here. It's time to take responsibility and craft a system that works for future generations.

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Health care critical to all - Billings Gazette