Three years after its passage the majority of Americans still are opposed to the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare). A reelection of President Obama will assure that health care in America is forever changed. A vote for Mitt Romney will pave the way to repeal or change Obamacare.
The effects of Obamacare are far reaching and will impact every state. But with only a few days until the election let’s focus on the swing states. Avik Roy is a writer for Forbes and has his work featured in other magazines, including the National Review. He is also an outside consultant for the Romney camp. Recently, Roy has done a series of articles on the effects of Obamacare in swing states. His research comes from independent sources, in many cases, hired by the states to help them prepare for the impact of Obamacare on residents.
The president and his team tout the Affordable Care plan as good because insurance companies now offer ‘free’ preventative tests. But because insurers are now required to provide these benefits the cost of insurance will go up. Additionally, it’s expected that young (and as a group more healthy) individuals may still choose to pay the low cost fine rather than enrolling leaving companies with the more sick and driving up the prices. It’s simple math.
Some defenders of Obamacare argue that these increased costs are outweighed because low income people will benefit from the new plan. Unfortunately, it appears that if you are only partially eligible for government subsidies (ie., the working poor) you may see dramatic increases in the cost of insurance.
Roy writes: I’ve been publishing a series of articles describing how Obamacare specifically affects people in swing states. In particular, I’ve compiled non-partisan studies — some even from an Obama adviser — that describe how the law will increase the cost of individually-purchased insurance, and how its blunt Medicare cuts will drive doctors out of the program. Here are some of the highlights:
One non-partisan analysis found that by 2014, individual premiums in Nevada will increase by an average of 11 to 30 percent. In addition, Obamacare will deeply cut Medicare Advantage for more than 120,000 Nevada seniors enrolled in the program.
A new survey of physicians has found that 30 percent of doctors in Florida intend to place new or additional limits on accepting Medicare patients, with 27 percent altogether refusing to accept new Medicare patients, because of Obamacare’s impact on the fees that Medicare pays to providers of health-care services. In addition, Obamacare will deeply cut Medicare Advantage for 1.2 million Florida seniors who are enrolled in the program, and drive up the cost of private health coverage, especially for those who buy insurance on their own.
Individual-market premiums will increase by 30 percent in 2016 relative to prior law. The Physicians Foundation survey, which polled physicians in every state, found that 27 percent of Wisconsin physicians would limit Medicare access under a fee cut, with 22 percent cutting off new Medicare patients.
In a study by the actuarial firm Milliman found that Obamacare will increase individual-market premiums by 55 to 85 percent in 2017, relative to what they would have been under prior law. A survey by the Physicians Foundation found that, if Medicare cuts physician fees by another 10 percent, as Obamacare’s Independent Payment Advisory Board effectively requires, 30 percent of doctors will place “new or additional limits on Medicare acceptance,” with 24 percent accepting no new Medicare patients altogether.
If you are in a swing state and still wondering for whom to vote think about your pocket book. Health care reform is needed but the sweeping changes of Obamacare are more like using a butcher knife rather than a scalpel to repair the wound.
Vote November 6.
