The unmentionable public policy success of Obamacare

Nearly 13 years ago on March 23, 2010, Obama and a democratic House and Senate passed the ACA (Obamacare) 100% on party lines. Not one single Republican supported this plan. None. 58 Democratic Senators and 2 independents pushed the ACA through congress. The GOP issued doomsday warning of impending doom to our healthcare system. So where do we sit today?

• No real increase in the rate out of pocket increases from ACA
• No real increase in the rate of growth of overall spending from ACA
• Historically low percentage of people uninsured even with GOP attempt to unwind ACA for no reason except evil
• Zero death panels are in place
• You can go to the doctor you want to go to

The GOP's dire warning regarding the Obamacare (ACA) have all ended up in the wasteland of unrealized fear mongering by people who only care about election, not service. Why would anyone support a group this wrong about everything? Tens of millions of lives improved with no corresponding economic downside. Is it perfect? No, it could have gone further but a good start and way better than nothing.

OVERALL HEALTH CARE EXPENSES OVER TIME - No noticeable change the to the trend line


OUT OF POCKET SPENDING OVER TIME - Notice no real change ot the trend line



NUMBER OF UNINSURED AMERICANS - Notice all the lives positively impacted by legislation




Sources
U.S. national health expenditure per capita 1960-2021 | Statista

https://www.moneygeek.com/insurance/health/analysis/americans-without-coverage/

Out-of-pocket spending - Peterson-KFF Health System Tracker

 

it says no real change in the trend line but actually in logarithmic terms it has decreased. The relative increase from $1000 to $1200 is a lot less than $200 to $400.

 

Now 40 states have adopted the Medicaid expansion including many Republican states, with only 10 mostly moron southern states, including most notably Texas and Florida.

Status of State Medicaid Expansion Decisions: Interactive Map

 

I'm surprised we haven't been able to get a citizens' ballot initiative through here in Florida.

 

Still wish the public option would have passed..

 

I’m stunned that anyone would look at healthcare costs, in America, and mention ‘success’ in the same breath.

 

Straw man. Obamacare did what was intended. Gave tens of millions of previously uninsured Americans a way to get affordable healthcare. None of the bad boogeyman scare stories of the GOP came anywhere close to materializing. I’m open to more aggressive healthcare cost ideas but how can anyone be against affordable healthcare for Americans?

 

Straw man back at you. I’m not aping Republican panjandrums. I’m pointing out that exorbitant costs are are being borne by millions ... so that millions can pay low premiums with massive deductibles. Aside: I have a friend who’s a middle income earner. He was told he qualified for subsidies. He ended up paying half his annual income in Fed taxes. I’ve heard other such horror stories. It’s like walking a tightrope. Pay hundreds and hundreds a month, for insurance, or thousands and thousands in taxes. Offhand I can’t think of another country in which this would be a common scenario.

 

I post data showing the increase in healthcare hasn’t changed due to the ACA and you post some anecdote.

Yes healthcare is expensive but not because of ACA. It’s expensive because conservatives have no appetite for more aggressive public policy on healthcare. They want market pricing and scream “socialism” at all measures. Well guess what? Market demand is high for saving your life so it’s expensive. Obamacare opens a door for those who can’t get the door open.

 

I know a guy...

 

I doubt it.

 

Success ... but only if you hit that sweet spot ...

To exemplify why millions of Americans remain uninsured, CMS provides this personal account: “A 60-year old couple in Grand Island, Nebraska making $70,000 a year—which is just slightly too much to qualify for Obamacare’s premium subsidy—is faced with paying $38,000, over half of their yearly income, to buy a silver plan with an $11,100 annual maximum out-of-pocket limit.” No wonder 28 million Americans are uninsured.

I know. It’s just “a guy” and his family.

https://thehill.com/opinion/healthcare/486134-obamacare-10-years-of-distress-and-disappointment/

 

As I understand it, the purpose of the ACA was to enable more people to get health insurance so that;
- they could get the healthcare they need
- there was less chance that health issues and costs would devastate them financially.

is that right? And while the ACA wasn’t perfect, is there any doubt it accomplished that at least some degree.

 

Again. Obamacare made health insurance available for about half of the 40M people who didn’t have it. Open to ideas for the other half. You seem genuinely concerned about the costs so I can assure you repealing ACA isn’t the answer. The answer is one of many public options that conservatives won’t entertain because it’s better to die that have anything socialized.

 

And again, a pox on both houses. Government ruins everything that it touches.

 

In this case it made 20M lives better. I’m not sure why it’s so hard for you to see this was successful but we have more to do.

 

Still better than the alternative.

 

An alternative would have been what we had BEFORE Obamacare when a goodly portion of the ‘millions’ without coverage were people that didn’t want it. But because we couldn’t have that, a program was implemented whereby millions were made to suffer (and even go without insurance) so that millions could get insurance with low premiums and massive deductibles leading to huge bills. It’s almost like the solution was worse than the problem.

 

You've made all that up. There hasn't been one supported claim you've made in this thread. Your argument is that 40M people wanted no healthcare? Link that. Go. Ahead. And. Link. That. Data.