Though the Affordable Care Act passed into law in 2010, conservatives continue to fight it at every opportunity: in the courts, in state legislatures, and in Congress. It's a safe bet that as the race for the 2016 GOP presidential nomination kicks off, a cavalcade of Republican hopefuls will torment innocent Iowans with tales of how they've fought Obamacare in the past and why they're the ones who can finally drive a stake through its heart.

But if you don't read the conservative press, you might have no idea why those of us on the right side of the political spectrum are so worked up about Obamacare. To promote cross-ideological understanding, I've prepared this little FAQ.

Why do conservatives oppose Obamacare?

Not all conservatives are alike, and there are at least some, like Avik Roy of the Manhattan Institute, who believe Obamacare should be reformed and not repealed. But as a general rule, conservatives oppose the law and would like to see it repealed for several reasons.

First, some conservatives oppose it for the same reason that liberals favor it: Through the Medicaid expansion and the exchanges, it subsidizes insurance coverage for people of modest means by raising taxes on people of less-modest means and (in theory) by curbing the growth in Medicare spending. Conservatives tend not to be enthusiastic about redistribution, and they're particularly skeptical about redistribution that isn't transparent.

Second, there is a widespread belief on the right that the main driver of the federal government's fiscal woes is the soaring cost of health entitlements, like Medicare and Medicaid. Champions of Obamacare claim that the law will improve matters by encouraging innovative approaches to paying providers, which will yield big efficiency gains. Conservatives are skeptical. They believe that instead of driving efficiency gains, Obamacare's highly prescriptive approach to insurance will stymie cost-saving innovation and that its costs will soar as it expands. Instead of tackling the health entitlement problem, say conservatives, Obamacare will make matters worse.

Third, most conservatives believe that America needs a system of market-based health reform that will be cheaper, less coercive, and less prescriptive than Obamacare, and they're convinced that the only way to get from here to there is to repeal Obamacare root and branch. The problem, as we'll see, is that there's not a lot of consensus around what an Obamacare replacement should look like.

There are, of course, other reasons conservatives oppose Obamacare, but these are a good starting point.

Okay, got it conservatives oppose a new spending program because they're conservatives. But why are conservatives so angry about Obamacare?

Many on the right believe the White House sold Obamacare dishonestly. Back in 2009, when conservatives and liberals were duking it out over President Obama's push for a new federal health care law, the president often insisted that if you like your insurance plan, you'd be able to keep it. Predictably enough, many conservatives claimed that if the president's overhaul of the U.S. health system passed, many people would lose insurance plans they like.

Originally posted here:

Perspective: Health care and the GOP: a primer