Affordable Care Act (2010-2011)

“But the AMA was no longer necessary to finance and coordinate the opposition; the case against ‘socialized medicine’ had taken on a life of its own. Conservatives could not even use the original arguments against Medicare to appeal to the elderly on the grounds that ‘socialized medicine’ would threaten Medicare (even though the new program, with its reliance on private insurance, was not as ‘socialized’ as Medicare had been). The death-panel hysteria and the campaign of fear against reform also found receptive ears because of the high anxieties following the financial crisis. The campaign particularly found a home in the larger Tea Party movement, made up entirely of middle-aged and older whites – people who, by and large, already enjoyed protection against health-care costs, believed they had earned it, and did not want to pay for anyone else’s. This was how the American health-policy trap worked. Some of the well-protected literally screamed and shouted at the prospect of change” (Starr, 237).