Since the passage of enhanced subsidies in 2021 Obamacare enrollment has doubled, from around 12 million people to 24 million. As economists often say, demand curves are downward sloping. That is a fancy way of saying people buy more goods at lower prices than higher prices. Another way of looking at it is that 12 million Americans think ACA plans are a bad deal unless heavily subsidized.
Category: Affordable Care Act
Dueling Health Care Bills Blocked in Senate
What is the health care debate all about? When Obamacare was passed in 2010 tax credit subsidies were limited to low-income individuals between 100 and 400 percent of the federal poverty level. Some of those in the lowest income range also have access to Medicaid. Under the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (ARPA), the premium tax credits were enhanced well into middle class territory, while those with lower incomes were relieved of paying almost anything.
Thursday Links
- “Whether we pay through taxes, out-of-pocket outlays, lower cash wages, or government borrowing, we spend approximately 22 percent of personal income on health care.”
- Cancer-detecting blood tests: the cancers they don’t find exceed the number that they do find. (NYT)
- Since 1992, the diagnoses of eight cancers has doubled in the United States in patients under age 50. But finding more cancer isn’t necessarily a good thing.
- Why there is a shortage of primary care doctors: compared to the specialties: low pay, excess paperwork and medical education hurdles.
- Does expanding Medicaid reduce crime? No.
Left Wing Policy Advocates: High-Deductible Plans are Risky
According to the Kaiser Family Foundation (KFF) out-of-pocket costs associated with high-deductible health plans lead to skimping on and delaying needed care. In another article published on the same day KFF essentially makes the same argument: high-deductible plans can lead to high out-of-pocket medical bills. The latter was an attempt to discredit President Trump’s most recent proposal to fund health accounts directly rather than extend the enhanced subsidies. Yet, the above arguments ignore what made high-deductible plans so common: Obamacare.