For the third time in eight years, the presidential campaign is doubling as a referendum on the U.S. healthcare system. And once again, the debate will revolve around the rising cost of health insurance and the number of people struggling to obtain or maintain coverage. The obvious difference this time, though, is that the 2010 Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, better known as Obamacare, is now fully in effect.
Although the 2010 law has helped slow some cost increases, the continuing rise in premiums and prescription drug costs and the uptick in healthcare spending growth show that there's much work left to do. The question for voters this year is whether that work would be easier if the Affordable Care Act were repealed, and the answer is no.
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