Quora Questions are part of a partnership between NewsweekandQuora, through which we'll be posting relevant and interesting answers from Quora contributors throughout the week. Read more about the partnershiphere.

Answer from Michael Lee, Public Policy Analyst:

Health care policy involves a lot of political challenges. Leaving aside the policy questions for the momentlets just talk politicsthe challenges include:

Daily Emails and Alerts - Get the best of Newsweek delivered to your inbox

With a stunning late-night vote, Republican Senators John McCain, Lisa Murkowski, and Susan Collins crossed party lines voting against the GOP's "skinny repeal" version of Obamacare reform. Zach Gibson/Getty

So when talking about the Republican health care proposal this year, even leaving aside the policy issues, we have a new government entitlement in the form of ACAs insurance subsidies that now has a constituency (both via the insurance industry and the covered individuals) that doesnt want things to change! But reversing field (even if Republicans were interested in building on ACA) isnt too workable either, because it would require new tax revenue to cover more people.

Remember, Democrats in 2010 passed ACA even though it had a lot of problems and didnt really reflect their policy priorities. And they did it because it moved the ball in their direction and they were convinced that theyd be rewarded by the voters for providing a new benefit. That hasnt happened quite yet, but voters still agitated against the Republican proposal because it would have reduced health insurance coverage compared to current law.

It remains to be seen where we go from here.

Why is the health care bill considered such a hard problem? originally appeared on Quora - the place to gain and share knowledge, empowering people to learn from others and better understand the world. You can follow Quora on Twitter, Facebook, and Google+. More questions:

Read the original here:

Quora: Why Is Health Care So Difficult to Solve? - Newsweek