Good question, Gatesheader. I fully agree with you. The only problem I have with the law is that I’m not sure it will work — what I’d really like to see is Medicare for all (Canada-style healthcare) (or maybe Veterans Administration for all, which would be UK-style health care).
First, I don’t think it’s true that 100% of frum Jews are against this health care bill. Political allegiance differs among different segments of the Orthodox community. There are many Democrats among the Modern/Centrist Orthodox, and I’m sure there are some among Yeshivish and Chassidic communities (though they may keep quiet to avoid getting flack).
Second, the main way to answer your question is to talk about why it is that many Orthodox Jews are Republicans rather than Democrats. It’s an empirical question, but I have a few hunches: a) Republican ideology and strategy since Nixon has used code words to take advantage of anti-black prejudice and fears, and many frum Jews could be susceptible to this because they often live in or near high-crime inner-city areas; b) the culture wars (gay rights, feminism, etc.) have a higher prominence in the public imagination than economic issues, so it’s natural for members of a conservative religion to side with the right, and then end up getting persuaded by the rest of their ideology; c) many frum Jews are apparently convinced by economic conservative arguments about free markets, low taxes (keep in mind that this madness is also believed in by many lower-class whites who would be better off with higher government spending, more unions and a regulated labor market, etc.); d) mainstream Republicans aren’t very good on Israel (the disastrous Gaza withdrawal was basically Bush’s fault), but Obama is the worst yet (for that reason I would never vote for Obama — I’ll probably not vote at all — even though I’m to the left of Obama on most economic and environmental issues).