So, why is “Obamacare” failing? The answer may partially lie within the question itself.
“Obamacare” is more formally known as the Affordable Care Act. The ACA was a healthcare bill that took effect in 2010 during the Obama administration. It was the most significant instance of healthcare reform since Medicare and Medicaid in 1965.
In February, the New York Times reported on a poll by Morning Consult, finding that 17 percent of respondents thought “Obamacare” and the ACA were different policies and that 18 percent did not know if they were the same or not. The rhetoric used in referring to the ACA as “Obamacare” has affected the overall image of the bill as a whole.
Republican politicians have created negative connotations about the bill and have presented it as being inherently flawed. One of the biggest issues pointed out is that insurance premiums have been rising. However, when the bill was originally passed, there were three stabilization programs. Each of these programs was intended to prevent premiums from rising.
A primary one was the risk corridor program, which intended to increase the number of insurers on the market to increase competition. The increased competition was anticipated to bring down premiums and allow for insurance to be cheaper, which worked for a short time; however, there was a flaw with the program. It was only set to last for the first three years of the ACA.
Republicans exploited this flaw by trying to end the program even sooner. The gap between what insurers were paying in and what others were requesting kept widening. Because of this, Congress voted down budget increases on a state-by-state basis, and in 2014 they passed a provision in the federal budget that the risk corridors had to be revenue-neutral. This prevented the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services from paying back the payments to insurers in full.
Marco Rubio was a large advocate for this provision and is quoted as calling the payments “a taxpayer-funded bailout for insurance companies.” Except, this provision is a major cause of premiums to rise, which conveniently makes the ACA look even more flawed. This provision led to there only being 12 out of the original 23 nonprofit insurance cooperatives left less than a full year later, leaving only private insurance companies in many states, including Tennessee. It also lowered the competition between insurance companies, which further caused premiums to rise.
Healthcare reform was, and still is, necessary. Health care costs per capita in the United States have risen every single year since 1960, according to the CMS. The 2016 Annual Euro Health Consumer Index ranked the Netherlands as having the best health care system in Europe. However, our health care costs have not been as low as theirs since 2001. The Netherlands’ income tax is also only 15 percent higher than those of the average income in the U.S. Since the signing of the ACA in 2008, the number of uninsured people has gone down by 16 million.
The United States is a world leader, but what example are we setting by not providing insurance to our citizens? Before the ACA, 45,000 uninsured people were dying each year, according to the American Journal of Public Health. I believe this should not happen in the “greatest country in the world.” As citizens we should be doing research before giving in to the rhetoric of politicians.