The 'Affordable Care Act is Not Good News

       I was delighted to see James Sefcak use facts to support his assertions: (“American winners with Obamacare,” Yuma Sun, November 23, 2014). I would suggest, however, that he not rely on extremely left wing websites like politicus.com.  I recommend the less biased site of the actual CBO report at http://www.cbo.gov/publication/45010.

       Mr. Sefcak asserts that “12 million more non-elderly people will have health insurance than would have had it in the absence of Obama care.”  Perhaps he is right, but the CBO report says that according to their estimates and the estimates of JCT, when the ACA is fully functional “about 31 million non elderly residents of the United States are likely to be without health insurance.”  That’s exactly the same number as were without health care coverage pre ACA. (See Obama’s September 2009 speech before a joint session of congress.) So what have we accomplished, destroying the health care coverage that 90 per cent of us were happy with, raising our rates by as much as 300 per cent, (mine only went up 59 per cent), raising our deductibles by the same amount, forcing our favorite doctors to close their doors, and still we have 30 million un-insured. 

       Mr. Sefcak also includes data that suggests that the ACA will result in “lower costs to the government.”  I confess not to understand trillions at all, but when did government ever to something cheaper than the private sector? Insurance companies will be subsidized for any losses, so they’re grinning all the way to the bank, the IRS will spend “10 billion to implement the AFC,” and after 2017, “25 million more people are expected to leave the work force and sign up for the subsidized exchanges. “

       According to the CBO, “As a result of the ACA, between 6 million and 7 million fewer people will have employment-based insurance coverage each year from 2016 through 2024 than would be the case in the absence of the ACA.”  The CBO predicts “a decline in the number of full-time-equivalent workers of about 2.0 million in 2017, rising to about 2.5 million in 2024,” as a result of the ACA. 

       Fewer people working, more people entering the ACA exchanges, wouldn’t that mean higher costs?  That lack of productivity probably accounts for the huge deficits predicted for the future.  As a matter of fact that same CBO report predicts that the national debt will reach 79 per cent of GDP by 2024 due to “the aging of the population, the expansion of federal subsidies for health insurance, rising health care cost per beneficiary and mounting interest costs on the federal debt.”

Doesn’t sound like good news to me.