Michael Hiltzik: Obamacare has been an economic boon, but some red states still don't get the message
Every anniversary of Obamacare's enactment is an occasion to take stock of the landmark legislation's positive impact on Americans.
The latest — the 12th anniversary of its signing on March 23, 2010 — may have been the most important.
There are two main reasons. One is that the law proved its value more than ever during the pandemic, when it helped give millions of Americans access to crucial health care.
The second is that the changes Congress made to the Affordable Care Act in the guise of pandemic relief are threatened with expiration at the end of this year.
Expiration would be a financial disaster for the families who benefit from those changes — which conformed with reforms that Democrats would have implemented in the ACA if they hadn't been consistently blocked by Congressional Republicans.
Then-Vice President Joe Biden notably told Obama at the signing, in a
