Many Americans could face double-digit health-insurance rate hikes next year. The average mid-level Obamacare plan, the most popular choice, is expected to cost about 22 percent more in 2017 than it did in 2016.

As a newspaper that worried from the start that Obamacare could be a federal budget-buster, we take no solace in this news. But the program is fixable, and remedying these problems should be a priority of the next president and Congress.

Despite being a partisan lightning rod, the Affordable Care Act has accomplished good that would be painful and counter-productive to unwind: About 20 million Americans who didn't have insurance before the Affordable Care Act have it now, pre-existing conditions are covered, children can stay on their parents' insurance policy well into their 20s and access to coverage has sharply reduced the uninsured rate in Texas and improved the health of many. Though premiums are increasing, there is evidence that healthcare costs overall are rising at a slower pace than if the Affordable Care Act were not the law of the land.

The big question now -- as it was before the law was passed -- is whether Obamacare will attract enough young, healthy enrollees to offset the higher costs of providing insured medical care to the oldest and sickest Americans. As designed, the law created risk-sharing programs and subsidies to cushion the financial risk to insurers and customers, but affordability remains an unresolved key issue.

Still, health care costs are too high and 29 million people remain without coverage. The way to fix the program is to better spread the risk. Texas could help by expanding Medicaid coverage under an option in the Affordable Care Act -- as a wide array of interests have advocated, including the Dallas Citizens Council, the Texas Association of Business and others in the business community. By not expanding Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act, Texas GOP lawmakers have forfeited federal matching funds and left millions uncovered who should be covered.

Americans should be proud that the United States has the lowest percentage of uninsured citizens in its history. And while far from perfect, the historic health care law has provided millions of American with a safety net they didn't have before.

Congress and Texas should build on this progress and not rip apart this program through partisan bickering. Healthcare marketplaces need to stabilize and enrollments must rise, which requires reaching the remaining uninsured as quickly as possible.

The health care law is a net positive for Americans, and changes to shore up its weak spots require Democrats and Republicans to engage in a serious bipartisan discussion that doesn't demonize the program or gut the foundation of the Act in the guise of reform. Fix it, don't sabotage it.

By the numbers

90 percent: Americans who have some form of health insurance

20 million: Americans who have insurance due to the Affordable Care Act

85 percent: Affordable Care Act customers who get subsidies that help them pay the cost of their premiums.

Source: Dallas Morning News research