Health care 2017

MEDICAID EXPANSION BIGGEST HURDLE

OBAMACARE MADE PROBLEMS WORSE

 

 

 

Before The Affordable Health care Act was passed, the biggest problem with health care was the cost and the growing number of uninsured. Now the problems have multiplied and seems to be impacting everything from employment opportunities, a reluctance of business to expand and almost all facets of business and life. Many of these problems are not evident to the majority of Americans. Most receive their insurance coverage from their employer, all they see is that they have had increases in their contribution to the premium, increased deductibles and co-pays. There is also a 4.3% tax on real estate that they are surprised to find out when they sell their home. This along with 13 other taxes. Penalties for those who do not purchase insurance. This is mostly the self -pay portion of society around 22 million. Many of these were previously insured but the cost of insurance and the coverage and deductibles have made it a bad deal.

 

The increase in the insured portion accomplished through the ACA has been mostly in Medicaid expansion. Medicaid was put into place to pay for those that are handicapped, disabled,  children and those unable to work. Medicaid was available to those who were at the national poverty rate. Medicaid expansion raised this rate to 133% of the poverty rate, this was paid for by the federal government until 2020. After 2020 it will be financed 90% by the Federal government 10% by the states. 32 states took the expansion, those that refused feared that in the end the cost of the expansion will be placed onto the states and increase their own financial problems.  68 million are now on Medicaid. The reimbursements have been continuously lowered to those that provide healthcare to Medicaid patients. It will soon be difficult to get service if you are on Medicaid. Being insured through the exchanges or being on Medicaid does not guarantee quality healthcare. It provides a statistic but the end result has been very high deductibles and co-pays of  up to 40% on the exchanges and lack of access on Medicaid.

 

The recent legislation has attempted to put in policies that will lower premiums, thereby encouraging the uninsured to purchase insurance, restrain the exploding costs of Medicaid, eliminate the regulations on business to increase employment opportunities and business expansion. The impasse is between those who believe in a market, competitive health insurance market, and those who want government provided healthcare for all. Most big business want to rid themselves of the burden of providing health insurance. As more cost shifting is employed, their costs are continuously rising. Once government became involved in health care there has been one crisis after another. This of course is how it works, pass legislation to fix a supposed problem, make the problem worse or create more problems, then pass more legislation that increases the government role, and the cycle goes on. It is now probably to the point that it will never be made better. It will be a continuous slide that results in  poor quality, limited availability, mediocre personal and a great government bureaucracy. The great result will be equality, it will be equally poor healthcare for all.