Obamacare

Health care insurance is too important to be left solely to private enterprise.

   Obamacare is a misnomer.

   The nation's media failed  to explain the Affordable Care Act and its workings to the American public.
   To begin with, it is not a government-run health insurance plan similar to Medicare or Medicaid. The new law requires that everyone have health care insurance. If you don't already have a policy through your employer, on your own, or through Medicare (for the elderly or the disabled) or Medicare (for the poor), you now must obtain a policy.
   Moreover, the policy must meet minimum standards established by the new law. If you don't have health insurance, or your current plan doesn't meet new requirements, there is a shopping center to help you pick one. It's on a web site called healthcare.gov.
   Oops, sorry. That's broken. Oh, well.

   The point is, the new law says you must buy this product called health care insurance. And carrying out the plan could have been done better.
   Both the government and the news media failed to adequately explain the law and the plan, and that was worsened by a poorly designed and executed computer system that is supposed to help citizens acquire health insurance. As a result, there was and remains confusion over what people must do to sign up.
   With Medicare, a health insurance program run by the government, no action is necessary. When you turn 65, you're in.
   Universal health care is a noble goal, certainly, and it is already in effect in several other countries, including Canada, Australia, the United Kingdom, and several other European nations. Moreover, unlike the American plan, the others are run by governments.

   Finally, there has been too much emphasis by the media on the controversy over the program, and not enough coverage in explaining the law, the program and how it can and should work.

   And while President Obama has admitted his team fumbled in setting up the web site, the American news media fumbled in explaining the game. They spent too much time listening to the political opponents crying "Foul!" when they should have documented how to score.