Obamacare Effect Linked to Lower Medical Cost Estimates
Source: Bloomberg
By Caroline Chen and Ian Katz Sep 5, 2014 12:01 AM ET
Estimates of U.S. health-care spending for the next five years have been lowered by two federal agencies, and the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act is getting much of the credit.
U.S. health spending in 2019 will be $4 trillion, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services said this week, or $500 billion less than the agency projected in 2010 when President Barack Obamas health-care overhaul became law. That announcement followed by a week a report from the Congressional Budget Office lowering its five-year cost estimates.
Obamacare has been criticized by Republicans as costly and unsustainable. Now, four years after its arrival, the laws mandated program cuts and the medical practices it encourages -- limiting unneeded procedures, and keeping people out of the hospital longer -- are cited by economists as key ingredients in trimming the nations medical bill. While the recession has had an influence on the cost slowdown, it doesnt explain it all, according to policy analysts and the CBO.
When the CBO goes back and revises their baseline, historically theyve adjusted upwards, said Tricia Neuman, director of the Kaiser Family Foundations Program on Medicare Policy. So the fact that theres been year-after-year downward adjustments is fairly remarkable since they occurred after the ACA was signed into law.
Read more: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-09-05/obamacare-effect-linked-to-lower-medical-cost-estimates.html
drray23
(7,633 posts)I remember when president Obama was pushing for it and showing this graph about "bending the curve" .
The republicans knew that too which is why they pushed so hard to derail it before it could have a positive impact.
Ted Cruz even admitted as much on Hannity during the fight last year which led to the shutdown.
lark
(23,105 posts)For them - hahahahahahaha. Wonder how it feels to be wrong 99% of the time? Yea, I realize I'm being generous.
sinkingfeeling
(51,457 posts)'Obamacare' raised policy rates here in Arkansas.