A research article published in the Journal of Health Politics, Policy and Law by Mark A. Peterson, professor of public policy, political science and law, compares the “political vulnerability and resiliency” of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) with the repeal of the Medicare Catastrophic Coverage Act (MCAA) nearly three decades before. “The political-institutional contexts and the processes of coalition change could hardly have been more different for MCCA and ACA,” notes Peterson in his article, “Reversing Course on Obamacare: Why Not Another Medicare Catastrophic?” in the Duke University Press publication. “However, they had some shared vulnerabilities stemming from program design,” he argues. “The ACA survived the political weakness inherent in its policy attributes due to its particular balance and timing of benefits and costs and by being shielded long enough by election results and the constitutional separation of powers to have its benefits take root.” — Stan Paul