The President’s been pretty much a broken record when it comes to Obamacare and there’s no reason that he won’t continue to be so during his State of the Union Address. He will never acknowledge Obamacare is anything but the bees knees. But wouldn't it be a relief to hear the President admit that Obamacare might be making our healthcare environment worse?
There is ever-increasing evidence that far from addressing the decades-long healthcare crisis in a positive way for consumers that Obamacare is part of the problem, exacerbating some of the worst features of our healthcare system that contributed to it being characterized as being in “crisis.”
In 2009, the President said,“Everyone understands the extraordinary hardships that are placed on the uninsured, who live every day just one accident or illness away from bankruptcy.” (Remarks by the President to a Joint Session of Congress on Health Care, September 9, 2009.)
Therein lies the problem. The foundational premise of Obamacare that the uninsured live every day just one accident or illness away from bankruptcy is and WAS wrong first because the problem of affordability was NOT just the experience of the uninsured but of those with insurance as well and second, based on that first falsehood, the presumption that providing any old health insurance would prevent financial ruin for consumers was never true and still is not true.
Obama has repeated his bumper sticker dozens of times…No one should be one illness away from financial ruin…or some version of the same. The problem is that Obamacare didn’t help that problem and likely worsened the problem of one illness away from financial ruin because of its ridiculous emphasis on getting people insured and having free checkups ignoring the core problems of what that health insurance provided and help in paying for the expensive stuff, NEEDED medical services in the event of a medical event.
Don’t get me wrong, prevention is great but as a health insurance priority it has always been less important to have covered by health insurance because it is an anticipated cost that includes a predictable amount of money (checkups include specific things for everyone). Since we already know and have been informed that insurance costs are up and coverage is down at least in part because of these checkups, this tradeoff was a bad deal for consumers because insurance coverage is expensive and should be reserved for contingency rather than known costs (such as checkups).
When it comes to financial ruin and medical costs, the checkup wasn’t the problem. The healthcare CRISIS was based on the costs of the follow-up diagnosis, the follow-up ability to get an appointment with medical providers, the follow-up treatment, follow-up medical services and follow-up medications and medical devices often required to regain health in the event of illness…The very things Obamacare made worse in its tradeoff of free checkups in exchange for INCREASED CONSUMER COSTS in the form of higher deductible plans, co-insurance, co-payments.
The fact that the problem has persisted and perhaps worsened under Obamacare has been noted by many legitimate publications. In June of 2013, CNBC Health Care reported that, “Medical Bills Are the Biggest Cause of US Bankruptcies: Study,” including the statement that, “And even having health insurance doesn't buffer consumers against financial hardship.”
The site Nerdwallet reported on March 26, 2014, “NerdWallet Health finds Medical Bankruptcy accounts for majority of personal bankruptcies,” by Christina LaMontagne.
A Gallup poll of November 2014 that Americans putting off needed medical care "...is among the highest readings in the 14-year history of Gallup asking the question."
The October 2014 US NEWS report, "Despite Obamacare Promises, Health Costs Up," also addressing decreased utilization: "Americans who hold private health insurance spent more on medical services in 2013 even though they used fewer of them, says a new report from the Health Care Cost Institute."
But still Obamacare loyalists are unable to acknowledge the obvious conclusion that it may very well be that the President’s election maneuver to take on the passage of a healthcare law was as poorly thought out and executed as his simplistic comments in 2009 that “having” health insurance, without addressing the usefulness of that tool in our economy of ever-rising costs for health services was NOT enough to address the real healthcare crisis which is that access to timely, affordable, quality healthcare in the event of illness is still and continues to be a grave uncertainty for most Americans.
