The president’s Affordable Health Care Act continues to be one of the most contentious pieces of legislation ever passed into law. Mitt Romney has vowed to make repealing the law one of his top priorities as president. You won’t find a Republican congressional candidate that doesn’t have “Repeal Obamacare” near the top of his “To Do” list.
The chief complaint among conservatives centers on the section of the law which requires that all Americans purchase health care insurance or face a fine. They consider this aspect of the law to be an attack on capitalism: “an attempt to remake our health care system into a European socialist system…much like the French.” Conservatives were so adamant that the “mandate” was unconstitutional they took their case all the way to the Supreme Court. The Court disagreed, and in a 5-4 decision found that the law was indeed constitutional. The “mandate” goes into effect in 2014. Undaunted, conservatives have vowed to repeal the law and “return the country to the best health care system in the world.”
Contrary to conservative beliefs; the requirement that all Americans purchase health insurance is not an attempt to turn health care into a socialist distribution system. In fact the purpose is to correct the biggest drain on our health care resources and one of the primary factors in the skyrocketing costs of our health care system.
Today there are 50 million Americans uninsured. 30 million of them can afford to purchase health care insurance but choose not to; preferring to obtain the free health care provided by local hospital emergency rooms. The cost of this treatment is absorbed by the hospitals and then passed along to the rest of us in increased charges. These increased charges are then reflected in skyrocketing health insurance premiums. The purpose of the mandate is to force people who can afford insurance to buy it and to provide assistance to those who cannot.
If you don’t agree with anything else in this piece we hope that you will buy into this:
In our current free market system it is impossible to reduce health care costs and premiums if you continue to allow 30,000,000 individuals to access health care for free. Somebody has to pay for their treatment. Emergency room services are the most expensive in our current health care system. When Individuals use the emergency room for free treatment for minor aches, pains and injuries it’s like undergoing brain surgery to cure a headache. The inflated cost of this treatment is passed onto paying customers.
Still skeptical? Wondering how much of an affect providing free treatment for the uninsured could have on the cost of health care? Consider this recent story printed in the Cincinnati Enquirer:
“Ninety-eight times in two years, the 41-year old man visited the emergency room at University Hospital. Diagnosed with asthma, diabetes and hypertension, he didn’t have a primary care doctor and racked up charges of $898,581 at the ER…During those same two years, a 38-year old women with sickle cell disease visited 72 times. Her total charges: $1.3 million.”
“These are “superusers,” a tiny sliver of patients that showcases the inefficiencies of the $2.6 trillion American health care system…They are a symptom of the problem…the top 1% of high-cost users swallowed nearly 20% of all that spending according to the National Institute for Health Care Management.”
Keep in mind that these are just two examples taken from one hospital in a small Midwestern town. Now consider the exponential affects on a national basis. The numbers are staggering.
If Republicans don’t like “Obamacare” they are well within their rights to do everything they can to repeal it. But they have to offer an alternative. Simply “returning the country to the best health care system in the world” isn’t enough.
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