Democrats have officially given up on the economic theory of ObamaCare

The party's signature legislative achievement has become an ideological zombie

Barack Obama.
(Image credit: Illustrated | Alex Wong/Getty Images, Miodrag Kitanovic/iStock)

ObamaCare will continue to trudge along as a program providing health-care coverage to millions of Americans. But it is an ideological zombie.

As of last week, it seems the Democratic Party as a whole has officially given up on the economic theory that shaped nearly every element of the Affordable Care Act's design. That is, no segment of the party — neither the progressives aggressively pushing Medicare-for-All nor the moderates calling for more gradual reform — now believes real change to the American health-care system can be brought about by individual health-care payers being better shoppers. This marks a massive paradigm shift within the entire party.

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Jon Walker

Jon Walker is the author of After Legalization: Understanding the Future of Marijuana Policy. He is a freelance reporter and policy analyst that focuses on health care, drug policy, and politics.