YOUR GOVERNMENT
It was a striking concession . It also shows that the President still has no idea how much damage he ’ s done to Americans ’ healthcare . Let ’ s go point by point .
1 . “ too many Americans still strain to pay for their physician visits and prescriptions …” Drug costs have risen dramatically over the past few years . According to a report last fall from Emory University , the people insured through Obamacare are hit especially hard . Out-of-pocket expenses for medications in a typical Obamacare silver plan are twice as high as they are in the average employer-sponsored plan .
Obamacare Failures : Point by Point
SENATOR JOHN BARRASSO
Obamacare insurance also tends to have more restrictions on the doctors that patients can see . People may try to get an appointment with their family doctor , only to be told , “ Sorry , we don ’ t take Obamacare .” They can get hit with a huge bill for a routine office visit that ’ s now “ out-of-network .”
2 . “ cover their deductibles …” In a recent poll , two-thirds of Americans said they would have trouble coming up with the money to cover a $ 1,000 emergency . The average silver plan in the Obamacare exchanges this year has a deductible of more than $ 3,000 . Some Obamacare plans next year will have deductibles as high as $ 7,000 .
Hillary Clinton is telling voters she wants “ to build on ” Obamacare . But President Obama ’ s signature healthcare law remains highly unpopular because many Americans believe it ’ s not a good deal for them personally .
The President essentially laid out a case for his own law ’ s failures in an article he wrote for the Journal of the American Medical Association .
He wrote : “ too many Americans still strain to pay for their physician visits and prescriptions , cover their deductibles , or pay their monthly insurance bills ; struggle to navigate a complex , sometimes bewildering system ; and remain uninsured .”
If you have to switch insurance in the middle of the year , you could find that you have already paid thousands of dollars toward your deductible , only to have to start over again with a new insurer . This is the situation facing 72,000 people in Illinois and Ohio whose taxpayer-supported health insurance co-ops collapsed over the past few months .
Similarly , you may have to find new doctors or hospitals where your new Obamacare insurance is accepted .
3 . “ pay their monthly insurance bills …” Even President Obama hasn ’ t been able to ignore the headlines about skyrocketing premiums . Insurers across the country expect to raise their prices an average of 23 percent next year .
14 | Quarter 4 M 2016