Obamacare: Fixing the unpopular health care system will take time

Of all the promises Donald Trump made on the campaign trail, none came as close to the hearts and minds of voters as dismantling the Affordable Care Act, or Obamacare.

Trump vowed to do away with the largely unpopular health care law and replace it with a more reasonable one. Will he be able to pull it off? Much will depend on how Congress responds to his administration's proposals and how creative Congress itself can be in coming up with new ideas.

Some parts of Obamacare are working. Others are not. When Trump takes office, he and Congress will likely try to keep those parts of the law that are working and change those that aren't.

It will be a huge undertaking and one that will take time. People who have come to rely on the law for health coverage can't simply be dropped.

It will take some doing to unravel the complex system as it stands right now. The new law must be something the American people will buy into, something that is simple and affordable. Trump the businessman knows that.

We hope 2017 is the last year that Obamacare exists in its present form.

Published in Editorials on November 29, 2016 9:36 AM