Definition of the word optional: ?left to one?s choice; not required or mandatory?.
President Obama has stance on individual mandates a lot. When running for the Presidential nomination against Hillary Clinton he came out in strong opposition to Clinton?s proposed mandates saying they would leave many “worse off.”
However, as we all know now the President signed into law the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) in 2010 which clearly calls for an individual mandate. This mandate however hasn?t been as well received by anyone as the President had hoped.
Now in another shift that surprised many, the administration announced last week the approval of 126 more mandate waivers, meaning that people who fall into specified categorie have the option to evade the individual mandate. These additional 126 waivers bring the total number of waivers to over a staggering 1,000, exempting more than 2.6 million individuals.
Am I the only one who thinks this oxymoron in terminology is all too representative of the lack in PPACA planning?