Time to move on with Obamacare

Time to move on with Obamacare

The biggest single driver of health care costs in America is uninsured Americans. None of us actually pay for our health care. We couldn’t afford it. We pay for health insurance.

Hospitals pass on the cost of caring for the uninsured to the health insurance companies, which raise the price of premiums to cover these increased costs. As the number of insured people increases under Obamacare, hospitals will be able to lower their prices due to fewer uninsured patients, the pool of money to pay for the cost of health care will increase, and the cost of the premiums will decrease.

This is especially true because health insurance companies, under Obamacare, must use 80 percent of the premium dollars for actual health care. New York, California and Maryland have already reported a drop in premium costs. We will probably never have socialized medicine, which means all the health care personnel work for the government, as in VA hospitals, but we may someday have universal health insurance coverage, like Medicare is for seniors. Obamacare is the first attempt at reforming our health care system since Medicare in 1967, and it was long overdue.

If you do not believe what I’ve written, research the Massachusetts Health Plan which insures 97 percent of the state’s residents. Governor Romney signed it into law, and President Obama used it as the model for Obamacare, including the individual mandates. After you’ve done your due diligence, let your Republican representative in Washington know that it is time to move on.

Diane Niesman

Wheaton