Reflections on Health Care Reform Act

From where I sit, it's pretty hard to understand the paranoid fear surrounding the Affordable Care Act of 2010 (brilliantly nicknamed "Obamacare" by foes, thereby guaranteeing long-lasting animosity).

None of the fears surrounding the legislation have really come to pass, at least not that I can see; my own standard health insurance premiums have actually moderated in their pace of increase, compared to double digit increases every year in earlier times. And there are a couple of tangible benefits I've seen. My daughter is now able to stay on my health insurance as she continues her schooling while working a part-time job without benefits. And my state's health insurance exchange looks like it will offer an insurance cost that might allow older workers to retire slightly earlier than than might have otherwise—a trend that could only be good for an economy that needs to put younger, under-employed workers into the mainstream work force.

So it's frankly hard for me to understand the hysteria around this. Granted, I'm a liberal by nature, but when public policy went against my grain toward a right-wing direction in the past, I got over it pretty quick. The Patriot Act was an insidious move to me, but I didn't keep the chip on my shoulder forever. Why is it, then, that the conservative wing maintains this shrill combat with legislation that's attempting to serve the public good?  It seems like a purely knee-jerk animosity to me, not very solidly based in evidence or logic. And I don't see how you can really argue with the basic need for some kind of legislative fix. Can anybody say with the straight face that they are against affordability for a need as basic as health care? If not the Affordable Care Act, then propose something else. The status quo was not working.

I know there are some conservative readers among our club....perhaps you can comment on your own take on the Affordable Care Act.   Can you point to real negative results, tangible ones rather than imaginary fears? If you have examples, I'd surely listen.