Thursday's landmark 5-4 decision by U.S. Supreme Court upholding President Barack Obama's Affordable Care Act - which will forever be known as Obamacare - is certainly not going to be the last word on the subject.
Since the decision affirming the measure, including the individual mandate requiring citizens without insurance to purchase it, was announced, Republicans have continued to denounce the act with the same fury they had been using before Thursday, while Democrats hail it as the most important piece of legislation since Social Security.
GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney has vowed overturning it will be his first act if he wins the election in November. However, it will be hard for Romney to follow through with this promise unless his party wins a filibuster-proof majority in the Senate in November. Even with projected GOP gains this is unlikely.
So for bad or good, Obamacare - at least in some form - is going to be with us for a while.
What Americans need to hear now is less about Armageddon and nirvana and more about how the law is going to affect them and their families. Will their employer still provide insurance or will it be dropped and force people into one of the government-sponsored plans? Will premiums go up? Will people still be able to see the specialists they need and get the care they need in a timely manner?
One of the problem with getting an accurate idea of what the law will do is much of the act takes effect incrementally with the final parts not becoming law until 2020. This is confusing to individuals, employers and insurers and part of the problem with the law. It makes people fear for what may be coming with this law.
This has been the most divisive issue in recent memory and will continue to resonate between now and November, so we do not expect the rhetoric to cool down.
However, we hope in the coming weeks, both the benefits and the shortcomings of the law will be thoroughly and honestly explained to the American people so they can at least have some reasonable idea of how the law will affect them and their families.
