By Glenn Davis
First, some things everyone can agree on: the ACA was an enormous undertaking, the initial financial model behind it was very complex, there was a stated service and cost model presented to the American people that took years of detailed work to design, and the administration has encountered numerous challenges with the implementation of the ACA. None of these guaranteed the failure of the ACA. However, the administration’s response to those challenges may be the proverbial “nail in the coffin.”
Even kids realize at a young age that parts of a model do not work independently of the other parts, and even a small change to one part has a domino effect throughout the rest of the model. As a child, I put car models together. I still remember a lesson learned from a model corvette. I didn’t attach an axle properly per the plans which caused the wheel when attached to rub against where the fender was to be placed. That in turn caused me to glue on the fender a little higher than in the plans, which in turn prevented the hood from closing properly. In the end, that car resembled one you would typically find on blocks in someone’s front yard as opposed to the shiny new sports car pictured on the box, all because the plans were not followed exactly as designed.
That same philosophy applies to business models. When a complex model starts to break down, you’re supposed to pause, re-evaluate the model as a whole, and after significant analysis, adjust multiple pieces at once having identified all the impacted components or scrap the model completely and start again from scratch. The last thing you ever want to do is continue to move forward attempting to “band-aid” the situation by adjusting another part of the model. Before you know it, you’ve found yourself in a never-ending spiral, adjusting one part of the model after another.
That’s where we are today with the ACA. Since November 14th, the administration has made seven separate adjustments to the ACA model. From delaying the requirement for participation by large employers, to delaying the online small business marketplace, to the introduction of unplanned cheaper catastrophic plans, they all impact different parts of the service and cost models.
Whether you like it, hate it, believe in it, or feel it was destined to fail, one thing is for certain, unless the administration stops this never-ending spiral of one piecemeal adjustment after another and pauses to reevaluate the ACA as a whole, it will be destined to become a completely dysfunctional program with no chance for results anywhere close to the service and cost models promised to the American people.
Glenn Davis is the newly elected Delegate for Virginia’s 84th House district
