Under ACA, Major Improvements in Medical Care, Health for Low-Income Adults

[kerouac2]

Source: The Diabetic News

A new study details amazing improvements in the medical care and health of low-income American adults as a result of the health coverage expansions from the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare or the ACA.

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“With Congress debating major changes to the Affordable Care Act, especially for people on Medicaid and with pre-existing conditions, it’s critical for policymakers to understand what’s at risk. Our study shows that the ACA continues to improve medical care and health among low-income patients and those with chronic illnesses,” said Benjamin Sommers, associate professor of health policy and economics at Harvard Chan School and lead author of the study.

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Researchers looked at survey data from low-income adults in three states: Kentucky, which expanded Medicaid under the ACA; Arkansas, which expanded private insurance to low-income adults using the federal marketplace; and Texas, which did not expand coverage.

Prior to the ACA, each of the three states had similar uninsured rates among low-income adults, around 40%. By the end of 2016, the uninsured rate in Kentucky and Arkansas, the two states that expanded coverage, had dropped by more than 20 percentage points relative to Texas — the rate was 7.4% in Kentucky, 11.7% in Arkansas, and 28.2% in Texas.



Read more: http://thediabeticnews.com/under-aca-major-improvements-in-medical-care-health-for-low-income-adults/

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This story about the new study is worth reading and sharing -- let's not stop talking about the ACA during all of this FBI coverage...

[Eliot Rosewater]

1. Thank you for this.

This study, these results, are a major reason why Paul Ryan desperately wants to kill ACA, Medicaid, Medicare and so on.

He goes crazy when he sees poor people helped by the government, especially poor "black" people.

He has vowed (on record) to end helping the poor in his lifetime.

[dalton99a]

2. Kick.

[Guy Whitey Corngood]

3. Oh hell no! Somebody needs to fix that quick!! Psss low income adults. Who needs them? nt

[hibbing]

4. Oh what could have been

If only all these idiot Republican legislatures and governors (mine included) would have expanded Medicare like Kentucky, imagine where we would be. But they do not care about low income people so we will back to people going to the emergency rooms and getting their "socialized healthcare" there.

Peace

[dem in texas]

5. The health of the general population will improve

If people can afford to go to the doctor, they will go when a problem starts, not when it is so bad that they have go to the emergency room. This will cause improved health for all Americans and after a few years should stabilize the insurance rates.

Affordable access to health care is why Europeans live longer that Americans. We have a infant death rate equal to some third world countries because prenatal care was lacking to low income women before ACA. Same for diabetics and people with high blood who pressure who could not afford medical treatment..

The Republicans want to take this away. Why can't we have single payer for all like Canada and the European Countries.

[mopinko]

6. there is so much to the aca that has nothing to do w exchanges and medicaid.

establishing best practices, expanding preventive care for EVERYONE.
vaccination, mammograms, other screenings, all fully covered.
my policy was always pretty good, but it had a $500 cap on wellness care. so short sighted. so stupid.

and electronic medical records. in chi, most of the hospitals and their associated docs were already on an electronic system years ago. but the aca made them sync up.
this not only saves money, it saves lives. to wit- my daughter was screened for a bleeding disorder as a teen at children's hospital. tho the screening said she didnt have it, it stuck in her record. when she had her gall bladder out as an adult, at a different hospital, someone noticed it.
they tested again, and guess what. she does have it.
made a big diff in how they handled her surgery.

keeping people in whom we, as a society, have invested their whole lives in education and other ways, is smart money. so much smarter to take care of people and keep them productive and employed than to have them languish on disability payments.

[IronLionZion]

7. Yup, and more people got access to AIDS treatment, mental health and substance abuse treatment

and much more. That Medicaid expansion was key to this and if we had more liberals on the Supreme Court it would not be optional.

For those who believe everyone does better when everyone does better, we are also seeing a lot of improvements in other areas in blue states that got health coverage for their people, like stronger economies, more jobs, etc.

People are liking the ACA more as they see benefits from it. The GOP's plan to let people die quickly should help mobilize our people to turn out and vote.

[SpankMe]

8. Too bad the MSM has ignored the positives of the ACA through all this

There are tons of anecdotes as well as a few proper studies that show that - while there were winners and losers resulting from the ACA - the net benefit to the overall health of the country as well as the general cost profile for medical care showed improvements.

The Republicans' main gripe initially was the individual mandate, the business mandate and the tax penalty/fine for going uninsured. They had some gripes about the burden on insurers and providers for the minimum mandatory free care that was required. But, that wasn't as much of a deal-breaker as the mandates were.

But, the sheer Obama-hate is what drove them over the edge of sanity. All they wanted (and are on the edge of achieving) is to deprive Obama and Democrats of any victory whatsoever on any issue of importance. Their opposition to the ACA is wholly irrational and is based on nothing but hate.

All the law needs is tweaking. No law of this scope works forever as initially enacted. The Social Security law, Medicare law, persons with disabilities act, civil rights act - all of these needed revisions periodically to bring them up to par with the changing environment and as shortcomings were discovered that were not originally foreseen.

The success stories have been roundly ignored - not only by the MSM, but also by Democrats, who should be releasing statements, stories, faxes, statistics to the media every week, if not every day, on the positives of the health care law.

Even though it hasn't been repealed yet, the major effects of the pending Trumpcare are already being felt. In my area, a significant partnership between two large medical systems - a major hospital entity and a major health care organization (both non-profit) has been cancelled owing to the uncertainty of the future of the ACA.

This merger (essentially) was favored by over 80% of the population in the county where I live and would likely have stabilized costs, dramatically improved healthcare to over 600,000 people and would have expanded general health care to even more lower income people in the vicinity. (These two organizations are highly regarded. They operate quite transparently and are seen as honest and effective.)

But, Republicans won't have any of it. They want to kill ACA at any cost to the public, just so they can say they beat Obama at something. It's sad, really.