Obamacare Starts In 2014: Over Half of Americans Oppose It; Battles Continue

The official start to Obamacare is about six months away, but over half of the country isn't sold on the Obama administration's key legislative victory. Many remember Rep. Nancy Pelosi's, D-Calif., calls to get the Affordable Care Act passed in earnest: "We have to pass the bill so you can find out what is in it," Pelosi said in 2010.

Marguerite Higgins of the Heritage Foundation called the remark proof of the "patriarchal attitude" of Congress toward the American people in recent time, in that instead of legislators working for their constituents, the act of electing representation is a mandate to that individual declaring they know best what is "really good for us" constituents.

If interested parties had the opportunity to study the bill further, they would reportedly see text describing a "non-compliance tax", requiring that anyone who chooses to remain uninsured after Obamacare officially goes into effect would pay a penalty to the government.

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This may be one of the many reasons that 54 percent of Americans still oppose Obamacare, including some that have championed it in the past. One top Democrat who was instrumental in the passage of the bill seems to be striking a different stance as of late. Sen. Max Baucus, D-Mont., recently referred to the implementation of Obamacare as "a train wreck".

While the House of Representatives has voted in vain more than multiple times to repeal Obamacare, the Senate Democratic majority led by Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., has halted that mission in each of the over 30 attempts. However, in April, some unions that formerly backed the healthcare legislation began to back away from their support of it. The United Union of Roofers Waterproofers and Allied Workers officially withdrew its support of Obamacare, and according to Investor's Business Daily, even has called for its repeal, forming an unexpected partnership with House Republicans.

Following the recent IRS scandal, in which high-ranking Revenue official Lois Lerner admitted that her bureaucracy targeted conservative organizations seeking non-profit status and the like, before later pleading the Fifth before a hearing led by Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., some have become worried as of late over the organization that will similarly oversee implementation of the Obamacare policies.

Senator Marco Rubio, R-Fla., called the connection between the IRS and Obamacare "chilling", citing the ongoing Internal Revenue Service scandal: "The IRS is going to go through the country asking people [to] prove to [them] that you have health insurance. Prove to us it is adequate and if [not], pay us $2,000 or a similar fee or fine or tax as a result of failing to get health insurance," Rubio said Wednesday.

Fox News recently cited a discrepancy between President Barack Obama's 'if you like it, you can keep it' mantra regarding Americans' private healthcare plans and what may come as early as Fall 2013. "You're going to be forcibly upgraded," healthcare industry consultant Bob Laszewski told Fox.

Private insurance plans that do not meet Obamacare standards will eventually be cancelled and insurance companies may choose to reinstate their members with more comprehensive, and expensive, 'cadillac' insurance plans to meet government standards. Laszewski likened the motions to a traveler interested in buying a coach airline ticket and being forced to fly First Class. Insurance plan adjustments may cause the ability to 'co-pay' one's doctor visit to drop and result in additional patient costs as high as $6,400 per year.

News of the financial repercussions of Obamacare struck one particular state by surprise. In California, the median cost of individual private insurance premiums for 40-year olds is reportedly $121. The mandate of purchasing Obamacare exchange private plans would cause the cost to rise to $261 according to Forbes, a rise of 116 percent. In the Oakland-San Francisco Bay area, costs in those counties could reportedly rise more than 140 percent.

The 2014 midterm elections are also just around the bend, and it remains to be seen what if any impact the full implementation of Obamacare will have on electoral outcomes in key races.