How ObamaCare Harms the Most Vulnerable GALEN GUIDE No. 14
FALL 2012
ObamaCare’s first and deepest impact will be on those who need health security the most — those who are poorer, sicker, and older. THE POOR The health overhaul law will make it more difficult for lower-income Americans enrolled in Medicaid to get care by overloading the program. The sickest of those on Medicaid today will have an even harder time finding a physician to see them.
SENIORS More than 12 million seniors have selected the popular Medicare Advantage (MA) plans1, and 7.4 million are at risk of losing their coverage because of ObamaCare’s cuts to the program.2 According to the Congressional Budget Office, MA will be cut by $308 billion over the next 10 years: $156 billion in direct cuts to the program and $152 billion in indirect payment reductions from the interactions with the other cuts contained in the health overhaul law.3 Those attracted to Medicare Advantage plans, which provide more comprehensive medical coverage, are disproportionately lower-income and minorities who do not have the resources for expensive Medigap insurance or access to supplemental retiree coverage from their previous jobs. They will be hit hardest by these deep cuts to the program.
CHILDREN Parents and grandparents of children in 17 states can no longer access child-only policies after HHS rules destroyed the market for health insurers.4
DEPENDENTS Those who are on a breadwinner’s policy today could lose their coverage and not be eligible for coverage in the Exchanges. Families with the greatest health needs will have the most difficult time getting coverage.
How ObamaCare Harms the Most Vulnerable
THE UNINSURED Even under the most optimistic projections, more than 30 million Americans will remain uninsured after ObamaCare is fully implemented.5 The evidence shows that the most vulnerable citizens will be harmed in this massive expansion and restructuring of our health sector — all while spending $2.6 trillion we don’t have while putting 159 new bureaucracies in charge of health care decisions. We do need health reform, but we must make changes in ways that protect, not harm, those who are most vulnerable.
“A Data Book: Health Care Spending and the Medicare Program,” Medicare Payment Advisory Commission, June 2012, http://1.usa.gov/QXuGM4.
1
Richard S. Foster, “Estimated Financial Effects of the ‘Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act,’ as Amended, Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, April 22, 2010, http://go.cms.gov/VPFe2V.
2
James C. Capretta, “The status of the Medicare Advantage program,” Testimony presented to the House Ways and Means Committee, September 21, 2012, http://bit.ly/PAUxYP.
3
“Health Care Reform Law’s Impact on Child-Only Health Insurance Policies,” Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions, August 2, 2011, http://1.usa.gov/SnXwbs.
4
“Payments of Penalties for Being Uninsured Under the Affordable Care Act,” Congressional Budget Office, September 19, 2012, http://1.usa.gov/RlvRqJ.
5
Galen Institute is a not-for-profit public policy research organization devoted to promoting an informed debate over free-market ideas to health care reform. Request additional Galen Guides by emailing galen@galen.org and access our research online at www.galen.org.