Cracking the AP U.S. Government & Politics Exam 2018, Premium Edition by Princeton Review

Author:Princeton Review
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Random House Children's Books
Published: 2017-10-24T04:00:00+00:00

As with other government programs, the electorate is divided on how to solve the two issues of universal health care and the burden of health care costs. Voters seem to want increased coverage but there is little evidence to indicate they are willing to pay for it. The only taxes the American electorate seems willing to pay are the so-called “sin taxes”—still fairly unpopular in some circles—on alcohol and tobacco products, which will not generate enough revenues to provide increased coverage. Proposals for “anti-obesity” taxes on sugary drinks and sodas have been met with mixed reactions from the public. Another basic issue for which there is no consensus is whether health benefits should be a government or privately administered program. With little public consensus, over the past two decades, reform has been extremely contentious.

An ill-fated attempt at health care reform was made in the first Clinton administration. The proposed policy called for universal coverage and strict cost controls. The policy would have required increased taxes coupled with cost-cutting limits on the types of medical procedures allowable. The lack of public consensus killed the proposal within a year.

The debate over health care continued during the 2000 presidential election. Both candidates agreed that something had to be done about both escalating costs and the increasing numbers of uninsured. The Democrats promoted a policy of a government-paid prescription drug program for senior citizens. The Republicans promoted a prescription-drug program run by insurance providers, but again there was no consensus.

The most significant health-care legislation in American history was signed into law by President Obama on March 23, 2010. The Patient Protection and Affordable Health Care Act, popularly known as Obamacare, was passed over the course of several months and it generated significant political debate and controversy. The law was celebrated by most Democrats, who touted it as the much-needed solution to the long-term flaws in the American health-care system. Republicans and some independent voters criticized the law, claiming it was an expensive intrusion of the federal government into the public sector. The debate lasted until the midterm elections in November of 2010, when Republicans gained a large number of congressional seats partly as a result of voter discontent with the law.

The most important of the law’s provisions allowed the federal government, beginning in 2014, to fine individuals who do not participate in an insurance program. This policy, known as the “individual mandate,” has been the basis of many Republican criticisms of the law. The attorneys general of twenty-eight states challenged this provision in the law in federal court, claiming that the Constitution prohibits Congress from taxing individuals for not purchasing a product (say, health insurance). However, the Supreme Court ruled that the individual mandate is constitutional in the 2012 case National Federation of Independent Business v. Sebelius.

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