Obamacare—Clear evidence. It’s working

Republicans still want to repeal Obamacare. House Republicans voted to do so in January.   The problem for Republicans is that Obamacare IS WORKING just the way it was intended.

In a recent Forbes article, Rick Ungar, summarizes some of the developments thanks to Obamacare:

600,000 Americans who may have gone without health insurance obtained insurance during the first quarter of 2011 largely due to the provisions of Obamacare that allow young adults under 26 to remain on their parents’ health insurance.  Young adults under 26 have for long been the largest group of uninsured.  The Health & Human Services Department now estimates that the goal 1.2 million new enrollees in 2011 will be surpassed.

The addition of hundreds of thousands of young Americans to the ranks of the insured is important since these young people (or their parents) pay premiums but the young are for the most part healthy.  More people are available to pay for those in the insurance pool who are more likely to become ill—i.e., the elderly.  Additionally, when young people are insured they don’t seek expensive treatment in emergency room when they have an accident or do get sick.

Insurance company first quarter profits provide evidence of the impact of adding young people to the insurance rolls.  Insurance companies are reporting record profits.  Why?  Because a smaller percentage of people insured are seeking medical care primarily as a result of adding young healthy enrollees.

Obamacare is expanding access to health insurance another way.  Kaiser reports a 46% increase in the number of small businesses with less than 10 employees that are now offering health benefits to their workers compared to last year.  Why?  They are taking advantage of the health care tax credits built into Obamacare.

Bottom line?  Obamacare is WORKING, thank you.  It is doing exactly what the designers intended. 

Tell that to your Republican friends.

Read Ungar’s article here:  http://blogs.forbes.com/rickungar/2011/05/23/more-solid-proof-that-obamacare-is-working/