According to Reuters, “…healthcare reforms have enabled 2.5 million young adults to join or remain in their parents’ health insurance plans…up from 1 million reported earlier this year.
“Federal officials fully credited the gains to the Affordable Care Act, legislation championed by President Obama that took effect last year and is deemed the biggest overhaul of the U.S. healthcare system in nearly 50 years.”
Wow! What a victory. Obama’s massive legislation has managed to enroll 2.5 million of the people who need health insurance the least.
What about the other 20+ million people who really need it? … … Crickets.
Now don’t get me wrong – I think it’s great that young adults 21-26 year old now have easy access to health insurance while they pursue graduate degrees or get started in their careers. However, this segment of our population is not the one costing our nation billions in uninsured medical expenses. They are, after all, the healthiest segment of our population.
My point is that Obamacare has done virtually nothing to secure health insurance coverage to those who need it the most – those with debilitating chronic diseases, low income families with young children and those forced to retire early before Medicare eligibility. It’s a failed strategy – and has been from the very beginning. The problem with Obamacare is that it “solves” problems that don’t exist and fails to solve those that do.
While books have been written on the subject of Obamacare and the Supreme Court will cast the deciding vote on the constitutionality of the law next year, the answer to “universal healthcare” still eludes our nation.
- Is healthcare a right?
- Do recipients have any responsibility or accountability for their lifestyles and health decisions?
- Is this problem best solved by the government or the private sector?
Regardless of your political leaning, Obamacare – the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act – neither protects patients nor ensures affordable care. If it did, it just might work.
