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Politics : A US National Health Care System? -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: TimF who wrote (35882)	4/17/2014 10:01:33 AM
From: gamesmistress	Respond to of 42652

According to this analysis (http://www.siliconinvestor.com/readmsg.aspx?msgid=29492097) the big slowdown in health care spending was a reduction in "inpatient utilization" beginning in 2003. IOW, people weren't going to the doctor as much, getting as many tests, etc. With Obamacare, we now have a significant increase in Medicaid patients, plus the "baby boomer" generation is getting older and will increasingly need medical care, primarily from Medicare. So "inpatient utilization" should start growing again, and may already be, based on recent upticks in spending since Nov. 2013. However, all that is the macro point of view. The people hardest hit by Obamacare, now and in the future as the mandates kick in, are those who see their deductibles and premiums rise, some exponentially, those who lose their doctors and are stuck in narrow networks as the macro planners want to reduce costs. These people will say, I have to spend several hundred dollars/month on premiums, plus pay thousands out of pocket before I get any benefit? Screw that. Those are the people who SHOULD worry the Democrats. The Dems would presumably have the Medicaid beneficiaries on their side, but not if they can't find a doctor that takes Medicaid. Bottom line, the average citizen isn't going to care what the macro data says, they're going to be complaining about the medical costs that they can't afford and/or the medical care they can't get.