Roskam misleads on effect of Obamacare

I am writing to respond to statements made by Congressman Peter Roskam in his email newsletter Sept. 14. He stated, "This fall countless middle class families will see their health care costs skyrocket by at least 7.5 percent."

He blames Obamacare. Actually, health care costs go up all the time and the reason for this is not because of the Affordable Care Act. The reason, according to Aetna Health Insurance Inc., is because "costs for services provided by hospitals, doctors and drug companies have gone up significantly. The rates that we pay for these health care services directly affect what you will pay."

Roskam also claims that people are being "forced onto Obamacare exchanges." I feel having this option is a privilege, as it provides a service for those who can't find affordable health care insurance elsewhere. "Federal researchers reported on Sept. 16 that the number of Americans without health insurance had declined substantially in the first quarter of this year," according to the National Health Interview Survey, an examination that is considered the gold standard by researchers because interviews are conducted in people's homes. Larry Levitt, a director at the Program for the Study of Health Reform and Private Insurance at the Kaiser Family Foundation, said that the report "dramatically understate(s) the effect" of the law and that "there should be no doubt at this point that the law is increasing the number of people insured."

As any parent of a young adult would likely agree, a most welcome decline in the share of the uninsured has been among 19- to 25-year-olds, whose share of the uninsured has been declining since 2010, when a provision in the law began allowing dependents to stay on their parents' insurance policies until their 26th birthday.

Let the reforms continue.

C.J. Truesdale

Wheaton