Stephen Henderson and Libertarian Shikha Dalmia Debate Future of Healthcare

What role should government play in health insurance?

Jake Neher/WDET

Republicans in Washington D.C. see their first real opportunity to accomplish one of the GOP’s top goals for the better part of a decade — to get rid of the federal health care law.

But people who hoped this would accomplished swiftly after the inauguration of Republican President Donald Trump are likely to be disappointed, to say the least. The question of how to replace the law will be tricky, and maybe impossible to answer in the coming weeks or months. Republicans are already backing away from their public pledges to quickly repeal and replace “Obamacare.”

Since the beginning of the year, Detroit Today host Stephen Henderson has been speaking with guests on a weekly basis who see specific issues — or politics in general — differently than he does.

This week, he debates the past, present, and future of healthcare with Shikha Dalmia, senior analyst at the Reason Foundation and a writer for Reason Magazine.

“Obamacare took an irrational system and made it even more irrational,” says Dalmia, who identifies as a political Libertarian. But, she says, “Republicans have all kinds of plans, none of which they can actually put in place, if it will mean throwing a whole bunch of people off of these exchanges.”

Click on the audio player above to hear the full conversation.

Author

  • Detroit Today
    Dynamic and diverse voices. News, politics, community and the issues that define our region. Hosted by Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Stephen Henderson, Detroit Today brings you fresh and perceptive views weekdays at 9 am and 7 pm.