Editor’s note: Opening speakers in the negative for the Allegany County, Maryland, Day of Civility April 8 debate resolution, “Should government provide health care for all citizens?” are Luke Phillips of Braver Angels, Isadore Johnson of Students for Liberty at the University of Connecticut, and Grega Wagley and Connor Murnane, of ACTA.

Here are some talking points for the negatives’ opening arguments in the debate…

Conservatives opposed to government-guaranteed health care are in at a sort of crossroads after the Trump administration. As noted in the center column, President Trump famously tried to dismantle the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act – “Obamacare” – for pretty much the entirety in his four years in office, as he reversed other Obama administration programs mostly by executive order. 

The question now for advocates of the free-market system of health care in the U.S. is whether conservatives on Capitol Hill should continue to work to reverse what they can of Obamacare, or whether their effort should concentrate on preventing the Biden administration from restoring, for example, the federal penalty for the working uninsured who do not comply with the ACA’s “individual mandate.” The mandate was made ineffective when the Republican-controlled Congress reduced the federal penalty to $0 in 2017. 

The negative position on this resolution centers on a constant fight against government-provided universal health care – a “single-payer” plan that would be closer to the systems found in Canada and Great Britain, but considering the close party counts in the House of Representatives and the tie-breaker-thin margin in the Senate, such progressive programs are unlikely until the 2022 midterm elections, if then.

Given the popularity of the pre-existing condition provision, and the ability of parents to keep adult children on their health insurance to age 26, a further rollback of the ACA seems unlikely. Opposition to Obamacare, after all, does not mean conservatives aren’t interested in reforming health care. The conservative approach to health care reform centers on these policy issues …

•Cap damage awards against healthcare providers ordered by “activist” judges

•Promote health insurance vs. pharmaceutical company competition.

•Reform the Medicare payment system.

•Establish clear standards of care.