David Catron writes at the American Spectator about the likely impact of the Indiana primary on the future of the Affordable Care Act.
Indiana’s Republican primary is not merely the Cruz campaign’s last chance to stop the Trump juggernaut, it will also determine the ultimate fate of Obamacare. If Trump wins Indiana, … he will almost certainly win the Republican presidential nomination only to lose the general election to Hillary Clinton, who is committed to preserving the unpopular law. Even if Trump manages to eke out a win in November, he will probably be hobbled by a Democrat-controlled Senate that will kill any Obamacare repeal bill. A vote for Trump in the Hoosier State, … in other words, is a vote for Obamacare.
And the Donald’s chances of winning Indiana are high, according to the polls and respected analysts. Moreover, the Hoosier state has an “open” primary that allows Democrats and ostensible independents to influence the outcome of the Republican race. Trump has typically done well in such contests by preaching what John Tabin described in this space a couple of months ago as “a brand of populism that is repellant to much of the Republican base.” This has caused deep divisions within the GOP, spawning movements like #NeverTrump, but it will help the Donald move closer to a first ballot win in Cleveland.
Winning the GOP nomination, however, isn’t the same thing as winning the general election. And virtually no one with actual political expertise believes Trump has a chance of beating Mrs. Clinton in November. Politico reports that, in a series of discussions with GOP strategists, “More than three-quarters of GOP insiders expect Clinton to best the Republican front-runner in a general-election contest in their respective states.” The story continues as follows: “In three of the biggest swing states — Ohio, Pennsylvania and Florida — Republicans were particularly downbeat about the prospect of a Trump-Clinton contest.” …
… Trump can’t repeal the perversely titled “Affordable Care Act” or anything else if he can’t get elected president. And when he loses in a landslide to Hillary Clinton, she will claim a mandate to expand President Obama’s “signature domestic achievement.” In other words, she will make the already intrusive and dysfunctional health “reform” law even worse. Her vision for building on Obamacare’s “successes” involves a soviet-style regulatory regimen that would dictate how insurance companies, drug manufacturers, and care providers operate and what they charge their customers.
Clinton also plans to exhume the dreaded “public option.” According to her campaign website, “Hillary supports a ‘public option’ to reduce costs and broaden the choices of insurance coverage for every American.” This idea was so bad it never made the cut to be included in Obamacare. Even single payer advocates have denounced it. And it gets worse. Clinton also plans to expand Obamacare eligibility to illegal aliens: “She believes we should let families — regardless of immigration status — buy into the Affordable Care Act exchanges. Families who want to purchase health insurance should be able to do so.”
