Media Reports Medical Expenditures Going UP after Obamacare --

[snot]

I keep hearing this story, with no mention of the possibility that it might not be so surprising if there's an initial bump, given that the uninsured have often delayed or foregone preventive care they couldn't afford before . . . .

BUT, down the road, shouldn't that preventive care ultimately reduce overall costs for much more expensive care for the more serious conditions that were prevented?

I don't have the statistics to back this up, but this seems like something a reporter might look into before mindless repeating that initial expenditures have gone up, if that's indeed the case.

[MineralMan]

1. Do you have a link to a story like that?

I haven't seen them, but I have seen some showing total healthcare expenditures going down. So, If you can find a story that exemplifies what you posted, I'd like to go look at it. Thanks.

[doc03]

2. Local Rethug rag today "Seniors paying more due to cuts in Medicare"

They blame Obamacare cuts to Medicare Advantage plans for increased premiums, deductibles, copays and cuts in
services.That paper has at least one front page Obamacare horror story every day.

[winter is coming]

3. Chris Hayes was talking about a similar effect last Thursday or Friday.

I was only half-listening, but I believe this is what he reported: a while back, they had some sort of trial in Oregon where they expanded their Medicaid program, but not to everyone. There was a lottery, so who did and didn't get the expanded Medicaid was chosen at random. At first, the expenses went up, partly because people had been without care for so long and partly because those new-to-Medicaid people were still using the ER. Those folks didn't have doctors but they were used to accessing healthcare through the ER, so that's where they went. Oregon then tweaked the program in some unspecified way to incentivize seeking medical care through a doctor instead of an ER and the costs went down.

[snot]

4. I've heard it reported on NPR several times during the past week.

I just caught several passing mentions that did not sound like part of an in-depth story.

Just googled; this story seem typical:

www.forbes.com/ sites/ theapothecary/ 2014/ 01/ 02/ new-oregon-data-expanding-medicaid-increases-usage-of-emergency-rooms -undermining-central-rationale-for-obamacare/ :

New Oregon Data: Expanding Medicaid Increases Usage Of ...

A new study, published in the journal Science [shows that,] In Oregon, people who gained coverage through Medicaid used the emergency room 40 percent more than those who were uninsured.

(snip)

In Massachusetts, under Romneycare, the math worked out in a similar way. . . .

Did emergency-room usage in Massachusetts decline because of all this extra money? The opposite. ER visits actually rose by 7 percent between 2005 and 2007, and the state’s costs for caring for ER patients rose 17 percent between 2007 and 2009.

More at the link. Clearly written by a right-winger; but the meme seems to be in circulation, without being effectively countered, at this point.

[bemildred]

5. Ask yourself how they could know that already? nt