In December 2009, three months before the Affordable Care Act was passed, former President Barack Obama met with Democrat leaders from the Senate to help them put the final touches on what would soon become his administration’s signature piece of legislation. Following those meetings, Obama proudly announced the numerous benefits the ACA would allegedly provide to Americans, saying, “Families will save on their premiums; businesses that will see their costs rise if we do nothing will save money now and in the future.”
Referring to the criticisms the ACA was then receiving as “misinformation,” Obama added, “You talk to every healthcare economist out there and they will tell you that whatever ideas are — whatever ideas exist in terms of bending the cost curve and starting to reduce costs for families, businesses, and government, those elements are in this bill.”
Eight years after the ACA was signed into law, Obamacare is not only failing to keep costs low, new evidence suggests healthcare costs are so absurdly high that millions of Americans are no longer going to see their doctors.
In a recent survey by the West Health Institute and NORC at the University of Chicago, 47 percent of those surveyed said they chose within the past 12 months not to see a doctor or dentist for a routine checkup or dental cleaning because of the high costs associated with healthcare. About 44 percent said they, on at least one occasion, avoided seeing a doctor when they were sick or injured because of cost concerns. About 40 percent said they skipped a “recommended medical test or treatment.”
Avoidance was particularly high for younger adults. More than half (53 percent) of respondents 18–44 years old said they chose to skip going to the doctor when sick because of high healthcare costs.
Health insurance premiums increased sharply in 2018, driven in large part by Obamacare’s anti-free-market penalties, mandates, and regulations. Cost increases for health insurance plans sold on Obamacare exchanges were particularly high. According to an analysis by Health Pocket, the average Obamacare Silver Plan—the benchmark ACA insurance plan—is $477 for a 30-year-old, 31 percent higher than the average premium in 2017. Sixty-year-olds are now facing average monthly premiums for Silver Plans that top $1,139.
As health insurance premiums rise, Americans are left with fewer dollars in their bank accounts to spend when medical emergencies and illnesses arise, which is especially important considering how high health insurance deductibles have become in recent years. The average deductible for Bronze Plans, which allow consumers to spend less money on premiums but cover fewer services, is $5,777 for individuals purchasing insurance on an Obamacare exchange and more than $11,550 for family coverage. Silver Plans offer comparatively lower but still outrageously high deductibles of $4,033 for individuals and $8,292 for families, although total out-of-pocket costs exceed on average $6,860 for individuals and $13,700 for families.
These deductibles are so high that even with significant Obamacare subsidies, which many Obamacare enrollees don’t qualify for, health insurance is rendered virtually useless in all but the most routine healthcare circumstances.
Dr. Zia Agha, chief medical officer at the West Health Institute, told NextAvenue.org his team was “surprised” by the results. “We were surprised by the magnitude of the findings,” Agha said. “And 80 percent of the people we surveyed had health insurance, so just having insurance does not make you immune to health care costs.”
Obamacare’s numerous mandates and costs affect all Americans, not just those who purchase health insurance on a government-run exchange. There are several reasons this occurs, but one of the most important is Obamacare exchanges have caused numerous health insurers to break even or even lose massive amounts of money because the exchanges allow people without health insurance to purchase plans regardless of how unhealthy or sick they are—and at the same rates as healthier people. For some Americans, there’s very little incentive to buy health insurance until they get sick. These costs eventually get passed on to other consumers outside the exchanges.
Regulations also drive up costs and prevent cost-saving innovations from being used, such as direct primary care agreements and more robust health savings accounts.
The Affordable Care Act and numerous federal rules are making health insurance so expensive, millions of people can’t afford to use it. To truly improve healthcare access, Congress needs to repeal Obamacare and work with the Trump administration to implement essential reforms based on free-market, pro-liberty principles.
Competition and innovation can fix our broken health insurance system, but only if government gets out of the way and allows entrepreneurs and healthcare professionals to find a better way forward. More government programs, controls, and mandates would only make our problems significantly worse—just as they did when Obamacare first passed.
Justin Haskins (@JustinTHaskins) is a contributor to the Washington Examiner’s Beltway Confidential blog. He is an executive editor at The Heartland Institute.
