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albertop | 1 year ago

And after the years of insurance premiums going through the roof, you still consider Obamacare a success story?

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tuckerman|1 year ago

Not being able to exclude people because of preexisting conditions and ensuring children have access to coverage seems like a pretty big success story.

Is it perfect? No, probably not. But repealing it would likely increase the budget deficit according to the CBO and put a large number of folks into a much worse situation than they are in now.

analog31|1 year ago

Indeed, at the time it was widely understood that Obamacare was about access, not cost. This was a necessary compromise in order to placate the insurance industry.

The battle over cost was left for another day.

pton_xd|1 year ago

On the one hand, yeah of course guaranteeing coverage for children and preexisting conditions is an obvious win. And removing coverage caps.

But beyond that... has average life expectancy measurably increased because of this "extra" insurance coverage?

Has the number of medical-related bankruptcies measurably decreased as a result of the expanded coverage?

I can't find solid data but everything I've seen suggests that those haven't really changed at all.

Given that, in the grand scheme of things, has anything actually improved for us, collectively? Healthcare is much more expensive now, but maybe that would have happened regardless.

Cody-99|1 year ago

It is objectively a success lol. The elimination of preexisting conditions and annual/lifetime coverage caps alone was huge. Not to mention the tens of millions of people who received health insurance who wouldn't have had any at all.

It is insane to me you are going to sit there and try to act otherwise.

sem000|1 year ago

Are you currently playing the premium for a family of four with a decent deductible where it doesn’t feel like you empty your pockets because you want to make sure your pain isn’t going to kill you?

VikingCoder|1 year ago

Show me where on the chart PPACA came into effect.

https://www.kff.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/Figure-1-12.p...

It should be obvious, right?

I don't deny that it sucks that health insurance is so expensive. Of course it sucks. And I have tons of empathy for anyone who is suffering under the expenses. But blaming our current costs on PPACA is just not supported by the evidence I'm seeing. If you have other evidence I should look at, I welcome it.

pixelatedindex|1 year ago

Insurance is going up across the board, it’s not a healthcare thing. Obamacare can be successful while premiums go up as well, it is not mutually exclusive.

KetoManx64|1 year ago

How do you know that Obamacare isn't the thing that's causing insurance to go up across the board?

If everyone is ensured, no matter the pre-existinf conditions, people take more risks, live more dangerously, drive a little faster, eat a bit worse, etc. Nobody ever talks about the hidden consequences of these oh so wonderful government programs.

drawkward|1 year ago

Can you prove to me the counterfactual point: that without Obamacare, insurance premiums would have not risen?

amanaplanacanal|1 year ago

They were going up before the ACA. Not sure what that has to do with anything.

whatever1|1 year ago

The premiums are going up because someone has to pay for the profits of the for profit insurance companies, of the for profit hospitals etc

They all have to report yoy increase of earnings right?

So there enjoy your capitalistic health insurance. Which by the way dumps you once you are old, then I have to pay for you too despite the fact it is you who wanted a completely deregulated health insurance market.

johnnyanmac|1 year ago

Yes. Welcome to how insurance works.