It has not been budget neutral, according to author Daniel Kessler, PhD, professor of law at Stanford (Calif.) University and senior fellow at the university’s think tank, the Hoover Institution, despite the way it was promoted. However, Dr. Kessler writes in WSJ, “Some of the law’s opponents need to acknowledge that for many Americans, modern healthcare is unaffordable without significant public assistance.”
Here are five things to know about Dr. Kessler’s analysis of the ACA, as presented by WSJ.
1. The ACA was successful in reducing the number of uninsured Americans. Citing data from Health Affairs, Dr. Kessler says 10 million gained health insurance coverage under the law in 2014, either through Medicaid expansion or the subsidized options on the exchanges. This moved the percentage of the population who are uninsured down 3 percentage points from 14 percent to 11 percent, or 35 million people, according to the analysis.
2. Medicaid expansion is not as cost-efficient as other programs for the needy, such as the Earned Income Tax Credit. According to data from the National Bureau of Economic Research, Medicaid recipients receive about 20 to 40 cents of the value of each dollar spent. In comparison, recipients of the Earned Income Tax Credit, which aids incomes of working poor, retain 90 cents of every dollar spent in the program, according to the analysis.
3. Healthcare spending growth slowed, at least initially. Overall health spending slowed between 2010 and 2012, but new data from Health Affairs shows spending is starting to accelerate again, though not as much as before.
4. The threat of the oncoming “Cadillac tax” has been effective in reducing overspending. Despite that this tax on overly expensive employer-based health plans does not come into effect until 2018, it has already spurred on some companies to pare down their plans, according to the report.
5. Marketplace insurance is more cost-conscious, but premiums have not gone down. The exchanges do offer significantly more cost-conscious plans, according to Dr. Kessler, though they come with high deductibles and premiums have not decreased on the whole.
Read the full analysis here.
More articles on finance:
El Paso hospitals’ debt dispute ends with bankruptcy plan approval: 5 things to know
High deductible health plans drive down number of surgeries in Western Pennsylvania
7 in 10 Kentucky residents don’t want to cut back Medicaid expansion
