A Current Health-Related

The California presidential primary is just around the corner, and our top three presidential candidates have very different ideas about the future of health care. There is general agreement among them that health care needs more work. Where they differ is, though, is in the degree of work needed. One candidate wants to kick the Affordable Care Act to the curb, like a useless couch. Another wants to keep the couch, but change the cushions. And the third wants to keep the couch, but upgrade it so that everybody can comfortably sit on it. But before we get into the candidates’ positions on health care, we really need to ask “how much power to change health care will the next US President actually have?” The answer is: Not as much as you might think. That’s because this year’s presidential election is unusual in ways that may profoundly influence the future of healthcare