Republicans in Washington have repeatedly called on President Barack Obama to make changes to the Affordable Care Act as a part of their efforts to deal with long-term budget deficits. Although complete repeal of the law is desirable, such an outcome is impossible in the near-term. This raises two questions: Should changes to the law be part of current budget negotiations? And, more important, what form should these changes take? The answer to the first question is yes. The law is a budget-buster, adding almost $2 trillion in new spending over the next 10 years. Calculations based on a recent report by the nonpartisan Government Accountability Office show that the Affordable Care Act could...
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