Democrats’ Healthcare Promises Don’t Meet Reality
House Democrats promised Obamacare would lower health care costs and expand choice, but after only seven years of the failed law these promises have been broken.
Today, 815,000 Americans have one or no options for insurers and half of the people enrolled in Obamacare spend nearly 15 percent of their income on health care.
It is clear, Democrats’ “promises” do not meet reality.
Via Washington Post:
Here’s a look at some of the biggest promises Democrats have made about the ACA, which have either fallen short or failed to materialize entirely:
The promise: President Obama set some high expectations for how his health-care law would work, promising it would offer customers a wider array of plan options than prior to enactment. Here’s what Obama said from the White House on Oct. 1, 2013, the first-ever day of ACA marketplace enrollment:
“You enter some basic information, you’ll be presented with a list of quality, affordable plans that are available in your area, with clear descriptions of what each plan covers, and what it will cost. You’ll find more choices, more competition, and in many cases, lower prices.”
The reality: There are several plan options in some state marketplaces, but as many as 815,000 shoppers could have just one or no marketplace options next year, according to research by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The number of counties nationwide with just one participating insurer skyrocketed last year, and could run even higher in 2018.
The promise: Pelosi stressed in March 2014 that people would have an easier time affording their coverage under the health-care law.
“I believe it’s a winner. By the way, it’s called the Affordable Care Act; it’s called the Affordable Care Act…Affordable. Affordable. There’s a reason. Affordable. Affordable. Affordable. Affordable. Affordable….Whatever it is, it is infinitely more affordable than the path we are on without it.”
The reality: Millions of Americans are now getting federal subsidies to help pay for their plans, so Pelosi’s correct in a sense. But there’s widespread agreement that the subsidies aren’t generous enough for people who qualify at the higher end of the income spectrum, leaving middle-class Americans without employer-sponsored coverage still struggling to pay their premiums. And even if they can afford those premiums, many families face skyrocketing deductibles, as insurers have looked for ways to cover their costs as they’re required to offer more benefits.
Half of all marketplace enrollees earning between 300 and 400 percent of the federal poverty level (around $36,000 to $48,000) face spending that’s greater than 14.5 percent of their income, a 2016 Urban Institute study found. The costs were even higher for people with significant medical challenges. Ten percent of enrollees earning between 200 and 500 percent of the poverty level (around $24,000 to $59,000) pay at least 21 percent of their income toward premiums and out-of-pocket costs, according to the study.
The promise: Pelosi claimed the law was lowering the cost of health care in a May 2013 interview with MSNBC’s Chris Hayes:
“The Affordable Care Act is bringing the cost of health care in our country down in both the public and private sector. And that is what is largely responsible for the deficit coming down.”
And in February 2014, then-House Budget Committee ranking Democrat Chris Van Hollen (Md.) told MSNBC’s Chuck Todd this:
“In fact, the Affordable Care Act, as you know, has resulted in significantly reducing the per capita cost of health care.”
The reality: National health spending and per-capita health spending have never decreased — they have just grown more slowly. And the slow recovery from the recession is the much more likely reason for slower growth rates in the years right before and after the ACA was passed. National health spending has been creeping back up, growing 5.8 percent in 2015. And last year, per-person health-care spending exceeded $10,000 for the first time ever.