Obamacare Life Spiral

[The Dude]

[Professor]

Of course premiums are going to fall. Simple economics. More people buying into the risk pool = more risk being spread across a larger body of participants = reduced costs for each participant. Only someone not familiar with insurance risk would argue otherwise.

Here's the question that needs to be asked: How has access to healthcare been affected? Not theoretical access, such as those who have insurance and now have the ability to have their procedures paid for by an insurance company. But rather ACTUAL access, such as their ability to make an appointment and actually be seen by a physician who accepts their insurance? We've increased the number of participants, yet the pool of physicians has not grown. Furthermore, more physicians every day are refusing to contract with certain insurance companies because reimbursements, which are tied to Medicare/Medicaid tables, are horrible (and getting worse).

[John Galt]

i love how people conflate health care insurance and health care

it's like conflating money with a steak

nom nom nom

[Professor]

Very true Galt.

"Let's give everyone $100 so that they can go buy a certain good that has a finite supply." The supplies are going to go quick . . . or prices will increase.

[The Dude]

[The Dharma Bum]

"costs" are reduced because people are paying for insurance plans that make people pay mostly out of pocket

I have health insurance for the first time in years and it's basically worthless

[fstarcstar]

Wait, so they studied only 16 cities, and only ONE of the available plans and it had a 0.8% (less than 1%?) decrease while adding 8 million of the "40 million plus" uninsured....and were hailing this as a success? Does someone get a trophy or something?

[Spider]

Millions of people with coverage who didn't have it before is a massive improvement of a problem nobody else had any *serious* intention to address, regardless of how politically desperate we may be to diminish it.

[Mr.Bill]

[Mr.Bill]