Why the Affordable Part Didn ’ t Work

By PAUL KECKLEY On March 23, 2010, Congress passed the “Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act”. It soon became known as the “Affordable Care Act aka ACA” before being labeled “Obamacare”. Its aims were two: to reduce costs and cover everyone. In the 79 months since passage, it remains arguably the most divisive public policy platform since FDR’s New Deal in the ‘30s and Lyndon Johnson’s Great Society in the 60s. Per Kaiser Family Foundation’s Tracking polls since its passage, the public’s view about the ACA remains split: half think it’s an overreach by the federal government that has resulted in sky-rocketing health insurance premiums across the board, and the other half believe expansion of insurance coverage for 25 million justifies the effort. Each side cherry-picks elements of the law they like and decry parts they despise. But all concede the law has not addressed affordability as originally intended. News about insurance premium spikes, has dogged the ACA since its passage lending to critics’ conclusions that the law was fundamentally flawed and had to go. In 2009, I facilitated several meetings for the White House Office of Health Reform seeking industry input into reform legislation. The context and timing were key: since 2000, health spending had increased 6% annually. At least 15% of employers had dropped employer sponsored health insurance coverage and the rest were searching for ways to cut costs. The ranks of the uninsured had sw...
Source: The Health Care Blog - Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Tags: Uncategorized ACA Source Type: blogs