The Republican controlled Senate spent the other 7.5 years blocking most of the bills by the Democrats. They also attempted to repeal the ACA 70 times.
As to your "We effectively incentivize people to not get insurance", that was the point of the individual mandate which was repealed by the Republicans in 2017.
> As to your "We effectively incentivize people to not get insurance", that was the point of the individual mandate which was repealed by the Republicans in 2017.
There never was an effective individual mandate, but if there had been, it most likely would've been ruled unconstitutional. Whether you pay a small fine or no fine whatsoever, you are ultimately incentivized to defer paying the far higher insurance premiums.
They are basically both hampering competition where they can, and not allowing the gov. to be able to negotiate.
I am sorry but your comment doesn't hold water...
As for banning imported drugs, this is a bipartisan issue, both parties have called for allowing it, but both parties are effectively against it.
This particular problem is due to heavy regulation creating a moat for large pharmaceutical companies to arbitrarily set prices. Republicans generally want to de-regulate, Democrats don't. Republicans generally want the free market to work things out, Democrats generally want the government to work things out.
Each side has been taking turns and as a result, we have had the government prevent the free market from working things out. We want everyone to be able to get healthcare, but we don't (or can't) force anyone to pay for insurance. We effectively incentivize people to not get insurance until they are sick, then we force insurance companies to take them on when they've never paid into the system. Somebody has to pay for all of it, and it ain't the government.