Are those "Obamacare saved my life" stories

Posted: Jan 19, 2017

As soon as Republicans took the first steps toward repealing ObamaCare, stories started popping up all over about how ObamaCare "saved my life." CNN ran an Op-Ed called "ObamaCare saved my life. What now?" and Salon one titled "ObamaCare saved my dad's life — and then he voted for Donald Trump." Another reported on how a "Sedona cancer survivor tells Paul Ryan: 'ObamaCare saved my life'." Huffington Post had a piece about how "ObamaCare Saved My Mom's Life." The list of such stories grows by the day. They all tell the same tale. Someone got insurance because of ObamaCare, got treated for a disease, and didn't die. The stories are meant to build support for keeping ObamaCare in place now that Republicans have the chance to repeal it. Get rid of ObamaCare and people will perish, is the implicit message. Were these folks actually saved by ObamaCare? It's possible. You can't spend a trillion dollars subsidizing insurance without helping someone. Of course, lots of Americans who had health problems managed to live before President Obama signed that bill into law, even if they didn't have insurance. So it's hard to say with any real certainty what would have happened. But the relevant question isn't: "Did ObamaCare help some people?" The relevant question is: "Could the same benefits have been achieved at lower costs? It's the cost side of the equation that all these happy ObamaCare tales ignore. And when it comes to ObamaCare, these costs are fantastic. They're measured in the trillion dollars in taxpayer subsidies, unprecedented premium increases, massive insurance industry losses, reduced choices as insurance companies bail, extremely limited provider networks and high deductibles. For millions who were happy with their coverage before 2014, ObamaCare has made them much worse off. But ObamaCare's costs don't end there. The law also included massive amounts of new regulations on health care providers, insurers, on businesses and on individuals. These costs are harder to measure. The American Action Forum took a look at the impact of all this on small businesses, and reported its grim findings on Wednesday. What the AAF found is that ObamaCare has killed about 300,000 jobs at small businesses, resulted in $19 billion in lost wages, and forced more than 10,000 small businesses to close their doors. "Premium increases, a prospect regulators predicted when issuing the first ACA regulations, also significantly diminished the number of business establishments and jobs nationwide," the report said. The AAF analysis also notes that just complying with ObamaCare's mountain of regulations has cost more than $53 billion and required more than 176 million hours dealing with paperwork. If you think the AAF is not in the mainstream, consider the fact that the Congressional Budget Office reports that repealing ObamaCare will accelerate economic growth, which means that ObamaCare is currently slowing the economy. Those costs are just as real as the benefits being touted in those feel-good stories, even if there isn't a website devoted to testimonials about how "ObamaCare killed my job." Did ObamaCare help some people? No doubt. Are there a better, cheaper, more competitive, less intrusive ways to expand insurance coverage by making it more affordable?" Given ObamaCare's enormous price tag, the disruptions it's caused, the false promises made to get it enacted, the market implosion it sparked, and the ongoing lack of public support, the answer to that question is also a definitive "Yes." ;