During the discussion that preceded the passage of Obamacare, the president and the Obamacrats told us that the new law would reduce healthcare costs in part because more people with health insurance would mean fewer people using emergency rooms for regular medical care. The theory was that the very expensive emergency room visits by the uninsured would be replace by visits to a primary care physician as a much, much lower cost.
The results are now in, and the theory was wrong. The Wall Street Journal reported today on a survey of over 2000 hospitals which showed that the number of emergency room visits was rising at the vast majority of the facilities since Obamacare went into effect. In other words, instead of the cost of medical care declining, it has been going up.
The result is not surprising. There are large numbers of people who now have medical coverage through Medicaid only. Because the reimbursements for doctors for Medicaid patients is often below the costs incurred by the practice for the visit, most doctors won't treat Medicaid patiens. People who used to have reasonable health insurance in the past but who are now stuck on Medicaid have no choice but to go to the emergency room if they want any treatment at all. (Remember, the emergency rooms are required by law to provide treatment to all who need it.) Then there are all the folks who now have Obamacare policies with huge deductibles. For example, my own coverage has a $4000 per person deductible which must be met before any visit is paid for even in part. My last policy before Obamacare went into effect had a deductible of $1500, but visits to specialists as well as primary care physicians were not subject to that deductible. That meant that a needed doctor's visit cost $25 or $35 for the co-pay (depending on whether or not it was to a primary care or specialist doctor.) It's also worth noting, that my Obamacare coverage costs about $2500 more each year than the much better policy that I had prior to the effective date of the law. Millions of people around the country now have new policies with deductibles so high that they cannot afford to go to a regular doctor's office. These people, instead, go to the emergency room when things get to a point where care is essential.
The net effect is that people on the whole are getting worse medical care and paying more for it. Maybe it ought to be called the Unaffordable Lack of Care Act.
The results are now in, and the theory was wrong. The Wall Street Journal reported today on a survey of over 2000 hospitals which showed that the number of emergency room visits was rising at the vast majority of the facilities since Obamacare went into effect. In other words, instead of the cost of medical care declining, it has been going up.
The result is not surprising. There are large numbers of people who now have medical coverage through Medicaid only. Because the reimbursements for doctors for Medicaid patients is often below the costs incurred by the practice for the visit, most doctors won't treat Medicaid patiens. People who used to have reasonable health insurance in the past but who are now stuck on Medicaid have no choice but to go to the emergency room if they want any treatment at all. (Remember, the emergency rooms are required by law to provide treatment to all who need it.) Then there are all the folks who now have Obamacare policies with huge deductibles. For example, my own coverage has a $4000 per person deductible which must be met before any visit is paid for even in part. My last policy before Obamacare went into effect had a deductible of $1500, but visits to specialists as well as primary care physicians were not subject to that deductible. That meant that a needed doctor's visit cost $25 or $35 for the co-pay (depending on whether or not it was to a primary care or specialist doctor.) It's also worth noting, that my Obamacare coverage costs about $2500 more each year than the much better policy that I had prior to the effective date of the law. Millions of people around the country now have new policies with deductibles so high that they cannot afford to go to a regular doctor's office. These people, instead, go to the emergency room when things get to a point where care is essential.
The net effect is that people on the whole are getting worse medical care and paying more for it. Maybe it ought to be called the Unaffordable Lack of Care Act.
No comments:
Post a Comment