This is not a local story; it is an Associated Press national story. What it does show is that when Obamacare is implemented fully (none of this refusal to expand Medicaid as many red states have done), hospitals get stuck less with covering the expenses of the uninsured or those who cannot pay their medical bills. They cover it by raising their charges to those insured, which in turn causes insurance premiums to go up. The estimate is that this cost shifting pre Obamacare resulted in the insured families paying $1000 more per year in health insurance premiums. The question now becomes: will the insurers pocket the savings or will they pass it on in the form of lower premiums to the insured.
Whether the slowdown in current health care costs per family is happening now because of the recession or Obamacare is open to discussion. With less spending money and loss of employer provided insurance due to layoffs, consumers cut back or delayed health care treatment. There for sure has been a very significant decrease in the cost of Medicare, extending its life 14 years. The administration is claiming the per family costs have already been $1600 or more...but that is not in premium costs, but in the cost of health care in general per family. The Washington Post gave that claim two pinocchios, but it took a lot of discussion to reach that conclusions, mostly because the impact of the recession is not figured into the equation. http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/fact-checker/wp/2014/10/17/
My thought is that the impact of Obamacare is more likely to be felt more in the future since the program is not yet fully implemented, including the failure of nearly half of the states to expand Medicaid coverage and the penalties for non coverage (the mandate) will only begin to increase this next year. Cost shifting impact has not yet been fully felt yet though medical provider cost reduction measures had been taken a couple of years in advance of its implementation.
The challenges to covering more in Colorado and having more sign up to Obamacare were explored in an Oct. 15, report
From the report: "
Flying Solo: Why Uninsured Coloradans Go Without Health Insurance
October 15, 2014
The Colorado Health Institute released a report today analyzing the reasons given by uninsured Coloradans for not having health insurance.
"Flying Solo: Why Uninsured Coloradans Go Without Health Insurance" is based on data from the Colorado Health Access Survey (CHAS), the premier source of information about coverage across the state.
The report, written by Research Analyst Natalie Triedman, comes as Colorado prepares for the second open enrollment period under the Affordable Care Act. Beginning November 15, it will run through February 15, 2015.
The biggest barrier, by far, is cost. Four of five uninsured residents say they don’t have coverage because it costs too much. No surprises there, but it speaks to the importance of affordability, as well as communicating the value of health insurance.
The second most common reason for being insured was that a person lost their job or changed employers. This “churn” will be an important consideration moving forward.
The most dramatic change in reasons cited for being uninsured came from uninsured Coloradans who said they don’t need health insurance. The percentage more than doubled between 2009 and 2013, increasing from 11.1 percent to 24.9 percent, the biggest shift among the reasons cited. This could reflect a number of factors, including objections to “Obamacare” and its individual mandate."
https://us-mg4.mail.yahoo.com/neo/launch?.rand=26d85c6418ea5#8881185274
http://www.coloradohealthinstitute.org/blog/detail/flying-solo-why-uninsured-coloradans-go-without-health-insurancehttp://www.coloradohealthinstitute.org/blog/detail/modest-price-increases-in-store-for-second-year-of-online-marketplace |
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