While the Uninsured Rate Is Low, People Fled to Medicaid
The overall quality of American health care could be better.
A new survey conducted by the National Center for Health Statistics found less than 10% of the U.S. population does not have health insurance. In the 50 years that NCHS has monitored insurance coverage, this is the lowest the uninsured rate has ever been. It’s tempting for proponents of ObamaCare to point to this as proof the law is working, but it’s not the case. “Most of this is Medicaid,” Ed Haislmaier, senior research fellow at The Heritage Foundation, told The Daily Signal. “We know that for the first months of 2014, most of what happened in the private market wasn’t new coverage.” The “Affordable” Care Act expanded Medicaid coverage, and more people moved onto welfare than seeking coverage with private insurance companies. Ever since it was started, Medicaid and its sister program, Medicare, has ballooned in cost and now requires a significant percentage of the federal budget to keep them running. Today, the medical care through Medicaid is poorer quality, as fewer doctors take Medicaid patients. Also, the mortality rate for patients on Medicaid is higher. The health care industry needs reform, but ObamaCare wasn’t it.
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- Medicaid
- ObamaCare
- healthcare