Obamacare or the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, is one of the most controversial bills to be passed in recent American history. Republicans and Democrats spent untold weeks and months debating the issue, and it seems pretty clear that neither side was ever going to move on its position. And now the Act is in effect, it still seems unlikely that an agreement could be reached on the success or failure of Obamacare.
The number of people without medical insurance is dropping, and proponents of Obamacare claim this as evidence of the Act’s success. So, what’s the truth? We’re going to look at the evidence and see how successful Obamacare has been so far.
What Was the Aim of Obamacare?
Obamacare was always meant to completely overhaul the American health care system, so the fact that it has shouldn’t surprise anyone. The main aim of the Act was to increase the quality and affordability of healthcare provisions across the country. The plan was to make this happen by increasing both public and private insurance coverage. Subsidies, regulations and mandates were all introduced with this intention in mind.
Democrats were not only talking about the benefits to public health though. It was also argued that the introduction of Obamacare would lower the deficit and lower the amount of public money spent on Medicare. On the other hand, conservatives made it clear that they don’t believe in the changes, claiming it would cost money. Many continue to see healthcare as a commodity that shouldn’t be subsidised by the state.
How Many People Are Insured Now?
Congress’s research arm has concluded that the reforms have led to increased insurance coverage across the country. It’s thought that the tax credit subsidies are mainly responsible for this. The Government Accountability Office said the subsidies had led to lower monthly insurance premiums. So, what does this mean for the number of people with health insurance now?
It’s now believed that a total of 16.4 million non-elderly adults have gained health care coverage since the introduction of Obamacare. Supporters of the Act are calling this an incredible, historic achievement and it certainly is hard to argue with cold, hard statistics. The number of people without coverage has now dropped by about a third. That means a lot of people will be able to use services like Bria Health Services, where they wouldn’t have been able to before.
Are the Benefits Bigger than the Failings?
The technical glitches that met the introduction of Obamacare were embarrassing for everyone involved, but they mean very little in the long-term. A lot of people were worried that Obamacare would be incredibly detrimental to the country’s ability to cut the deficit, but these fears appear to be unfounded.
The people in organizations like the Tea Party will never back any kind of public health care. But most people can now see that the benefits of Obamacare far outweigh the drawbacks. The teethings problems have been adapted to and worked out, and all the latest statistics are looking good from a Democratic point of view.
