2014
From an e-mail sent by the Department of Health and Human Services
Today marks the fourth anniversary of the signing of the Affordable Care Act. Since its enactment, millions of Americans have benefited from the law. Here are just four of the reasons we have to celebrate today.
1. 5 million people covered: Since October 1, more than 5 million people have signed up for coverage through the Health Insurance Marketplace.
2. Bending the cost curve: We’ve held down national spending growth in health care to the slowest rate in a half century.
3. Free preventive care: Today, most health plans have to cover recommended preventive services free of charge, benefiting 71 million Americans.
4. Strengthening Medicare: Today, the Medicare program is stronger than ever. Since enactment of the Affordable Care Act, 7.9 million seniors and people with disabilities have saved $9.9 billion on prescription drugs, or an average of $1,265 per beneficiary.
1⃣ Many of these individuals were insured before 2014, many have yet to actually pay premiums to activate coverage. Progress for some but hardly cause for celebration.
2⃣ There is no evidence at all that the slowing in the growth rate of health care spending is directly related to the Affordable Care Act or that the trend is permanent.
3⃣ Saying these services are “free of charge” is like saying a subsidized premium makes health care affordable. All this “free” stuff is added to premium costs.
4⃣ Stronger than ever is a stretch, costs are still heading out of control. Expanding benefits does not lead to strength.
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From the Medicare Trustees Report
Conclusion
Total Medicare expenditures were $574 billion in 2012. The Board projects that, under current law, expenditures will increase in future years at a somewhat faster pace than either aggregate workers’ earnings or the economy overall and that, as a percentage of GDP, they will increase from 3.6 percent in 2012 to 6.5 percent by 2087 (based on the Trustees’ intermediate set of assumptions).
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