I strongly disagree with your willingness to use this as a bargaining chip to avoid the default. What was unclear from the article in the Citizen was if you meant delaying the mandate and fine or delaying the whole bill (some of which has already been implemented).
The exchanges are due to open in a few days! A huge amount of time and money has been devoted to setting them up. Friends in other states have had a look at what they are going to be offered and are pleased with what they have seen. So many features of the act – enabling insurance for folks with pre-existing conditions, changing the age for children to remain on their parents policies, covering annual physicals, and closing the Medicare drug gap can benefit millions of people right now. We can’t pick and choose which of these benefits can be implemented now and which will be put off a year. The fines for not getting insurance are pretty small the first year.
Thanks Minna. I thought the reporting in that article mischaracterized my views. I am absolutely not “calling” for delay in implementing the ACA. I agree that would be disastrous. I also have no particular plan for avoiding default. The gist of the comment was just we really do need adult leadership to avoid default and that might involve some very painful choices if the Republicans are as crazy as they seem.