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| The Affordable Care Act is one of the most controversial pieces of legislation in the history of the United States. |
Reich, Robert. "It’s Working Despite Misinformation." The New York Times: Room for Debate. The New York Times, 20 Mar 2014. Web. 22 Mar 2014. <http://www.nytimes.com/roomfordebate/2014/03/20/obamacares-four-year-checkup/the-affordable-care-act-is-working-despite-misinformation>.
In this opinion piece, Robert Reich, a professor of public policy at the University of California - Berkeley, provides his input regarding the success thus far of the Affordable Care Act. Reich starts by citing several statistics, including the fact that five million people have already signed up for health care and the fact that the uninsured rate has dropped to its lowest level since 2008. He also notes that health insurance costs have steadily dropped. However, Reich counters this by explaining how misinformation is still plaguing the roll-out. For example, a majority of business owners with under 50 employees still incorrectly believe that they're required to offer insurance. In addition, in some groups, particularly the Hispanic community, signups have been disappointing and far below projections, likely due to continued fear of the program. Reich ends his brief piece on a positive note, claiming that this misinformation can easily be solved. He argues that in order to continue the success of the Affordable Care Act, the administration should now direct their efforts towards widespread education of Americans in order to allow them to get the most out of the new program.
I also agree with idea that the Affordable Care Act was successful. Although there were many mishaps in the launch of the program in the fall of last year, Obama Care has actually surpassed its goal of 7 million enrolled by March 31 (the actual number is 7.1 million). This is a milestone itself for the Obama administration and hopefully many good things to come will occur in the future.
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