ObamaCare is about money, not well-being.

• Position: Health Care - Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act

"Politics is the art of looking for trouble, finding it everywhere, diagnosing it incorrectly, and applying all the wrong remedies."

Marilyn M. Singleton, a board-certified anesthesiologist and Association of American Physicians and Surgeons member, cannot help but think of that Groucho Marx quote when analyzing ObamaCare. "The politics of selling the Patent Protection and Affordable Care Act focuses on promising health and wellness. Somehow, having 'coverage' is supposed to get you to a primary care doctor who will keep you healthy, and if he doesn't, he will be held accountable by not being paid," she says.

The fact is, health care reform is not going to cure the U.S.'s health problems. "Physicians, think tanks, and politicians are pointing out a myriad of problems with ObamaCare, but most of them miss the main point, which starts with calling it 'health care reform.' The term, and the conversation about it, conflates health care and medical care, but they are not the same thing. Individuals are in charge of their own health care. Physicians provide medical care to those who become sick."

Health reform, insists Singleton, begins with making it clear that individuals' health is in their own hands. The relationship between personal behavior and health is clear. Almost all of the illnesses that we can prevent are related to smoking, overeating, lack of exercise, alcohol or drug abuse, high-risk behavior, or too much sun exposure.

According to the the Centers for Disease Control, Atlanta, Ga., 19% of all U.S. adults (43,800,000 people) smoke tobacco. Almost one-third of adults living below the poverty line do so. Adverse effects include heart and vascular disease, stroke, emphysema, bronchitis, and cancer (lung, oral, esophageal, and likely bladder, kidney, and pancreas).

Under the Affordable Care Act, Singleton relates, doctors will check a box...