Avik Roy Speculates on the 2016 Presidential Election and the ACA

Although GOP presidential hopefuls are all campaigning on promises to repeal and replace President Obama's Affordable Care Act (ACA), the last real chance to repeal may have been the 2012 election, according to Avik Roy, senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute.

Mr Roy suggests that taking away healthcare coverage from 20 million people would need to be done thoughtfully and carefully, but still is not the fix to a problem that has been around a lot longer than the ACA’s relatively recent implementation. The broader issues of the healthcare system created by a long history of Medicare, Medicaid and employer tax exclusion is something both Republicans and Democrats should concentrate on.

“I think too often in Washington, we have this idea that for the left to win the right has to lose or for the right to win the left has to lose,” Mr Roy says. “Our healthcare system is so messed up that both sides can win. You can expand access and coverage to the people who don’t have it while also lowering the amount of federal spending and deficit and debt problems we have that are associated with our healthcare system.”