Today, at long last, the Affordable Care Act, dubbed ObamaCare, opens for enrollment, making health insurance available to millions of uninsured Americans. Of course, ObamaCare is not perfect, but it’s a step in the right direction, and it certainly will alleviate the financial fear associated with a serious and unexpected illness. (In the USA, medical bills are the biggest cause of bankruptcies.)

In addition, under the mandates of ObamaCare, insurance companies will no longer be able to exclude people from coverage based on even the most minor pre-existing conditions or cancel coverage for those who have been diagnosed with serious and expensive illnesses. Moreover, people denied needed treatment by their insurance companies will now have a guaranteed appeals process. 

In their push to shut down the government over the Affordable Care Act, conservative Republicans have cast ObamaCare in near apocalyptic terms. There won’t be death panels, seniors won’t lose benefits, and the economy won’t collapse. All this fear-mongering, initiated by people who should know better, is just politics, plain and simple.