Carl Higbie didn’t just criticize Obamacare on Wednesday’s Carl Higbie FRONTLINE — he laid bare the political rot that keeps the law propped up while hardworking Americans pay the price. Higbie rightly called out Democrats for weaponizing temporary subsidies and then pretending they were some permanent moral victory, even as those same policies blew up premiums and strangled choice.
This isn’t abstract policy theater; it’s real pain for families who see premiums and deductibles climb while Washington points fingers. Republicans on our side have been saying the ACA broke insurance rules and made health care more costly and chaotic, and leaders on Newsmax have been unafraid to call the law what it is: a disaster for working people.
Higbie also hammered home a truth Democrats hate to hear — the subsidies they begged for during crises were never meant to be permanent, and they’re using them as leverage to shield their political failure. That is the kind of cynical Washington arithmetic conservatives warned about for years: expand entitlement spending to buy votes, then scream when the bill comes due.
Conservatives aren’t heartless about transition; we’ve always argued for orderly, humane reforms that don’t abandon people to chaos the moment the rhetoric changes. Higbie and others remind us that repeal-and-replace must be responsible, phased, and focused on lowering costs and restoring competition so insurers actually serve customers rather than bureaucratic mandates.
The practical problems are obvious: bloated subsidies invite fraud, distort markets, and hide the true cost of the program while making honest buyers shoulder the burden. Senators and experts across conservative media have pointed to runaway costs and fraud as reasons the current system is unsustainable and why Washington must stop treating health care like a perpetual campaign slush fund.
If Republicans are serious about helping Americans, they’ll stop grandstanding and push durable reforms that restore patient choice, unleash competition across state lines, and rein in the federal machinery that turned insurance into a playground for special interests. The Trump administration and conservative policymakers have real plans to fix what the ACA broke — now it’s time to use power, not platitudes, to deliver them.
Carl Higbie did what conservatives should do every day: speak plainly, hold Democrats accountable, and fight for policy that puts Americans first. For patriotic, hardworking families sick of excuses and higher bills, Higbie’s takedown was a welcome reminder that principled conservatism still stands for common-sense reform and for a government that serves taxpayers, not entitlements.
