Tuesday, December 22, 2020

Still not affordable after all these years

We were too busy with COVID and the presidential election to remember an important date, the 10th anniversary of the Affordable Health Care Act.

How is the ten-year old law doing?   Some polls show that many support its goals but overall it is not really working, as Chuck Donovan wrote:    

The promise of the ACA was better coverage at lower cost. Everyone remembers President Barack Obama’s sober pledge that American families would enjoy $2,500 in annual savings on their premiums and be able to keep their doctors. The Heritage report shows, instead, that in just five years, from 2013 to 2018, the average monthly premium paid by an individual rose from $244 to $550 a month, a more than 125% increase.

At the same time, the mid-tier quality plan on the federal exchange saw its annual deductible rise by more than $1,000. Provider networks, in turn, typically shrank.

As the article further explains, most U.S. counties are down to 1 or 2 plans.

Ten years later, reality had the last word.  ObamaCare killed choices and prices went up.  It raised premiums and deductibles and that's the bottom line as it turns 10.

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