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Most politicians in Washington and sadly most Americans feel as though the falsely named Affordable Care Act is here to stay. They say with The Supreme Court upholding two major challenges to certain aspects of the law that it is now permanent. The law may be permanent but the fundamentals of the entire legislation are imploding.
The Obama Administration likes to tout some pretty sounding numbers. They like to say that 16 Million Americans have “signed up” for the program and that it is very popular. However these number are not accurate. First off, the administration’s 16 Million number takes into account that everyone who has signed up has paid their premiums. This is not the case. In fact the REAL number of people that have actually signed up is about half that number. 50% of those that signed are not paying any premiums at all so therefore the Administration is being shall we say, “less than truthful.”
So why is it not permanent?
Well for one, the enrollment numbers are lagging way behind the Administration’s objectives. The administration publicly admitted recently that they foresee a shortfall of their enrollment goals. Secondly, the co-ops and exchanges in the 34 states that they were set up in are seeing revenue shortfalls and enrollment shortfalls.
What the Supreme Court did in their last decision was not only short sighted but more importantly it was politically motivated. They had to make a decision whether or not to allow 6-8 Million peole lose their insurance not caring about the long term ramifications of their decision.
Right now Federal Funds cover 100% of the healthcare costs for eligible beneficiaries. In 2017 that number decreases to 95%. In 2018 that number than decreases to 94% then in 2019 to 93% and by the year 2020 decreases to 90% and it keeps on decreases in small increments in subsequent years.
So what does this mean?
This means that states who are already suffering under this administrations economic policies will be even more strained as they will be forced to pick up more of the healthcare expenses which in turn will make funding for other important things like security, education, and other social services much more difficult. In the end cities will either file bankruptcy, raise taxes, or both.
In the end it will be the tax payers who suffer and get stuck with the bill. The Affordable Care Act does not make healthcare more affordable; it does quite the opposite. The Obama Administration did not improve healthcare instead it increased dependency which is the exact reason it was passed in the first place…