Obama Camp Uninsured Analysis

There are a number of reasons why the United States needs the Individual Mandate and a number of reasons why the United States do not need the Individual Mandate. Since the ACA’s implementation, there has been a steep decline in the uninsured rate compared to the past when there was only Medicare and Medicaid. The nation’s uninsured rate is at its lowest level. According to the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS), in the early months of 2015, it was estimated that 16.4 million people have gained insurance coverage. This includes people who gained coverage at the end of 2013, and young adults who gained coverage before 2014. This is one of the reasons why the United States needs the Individual Mandate.4 The graph below shows the Percent

Before the Obamacare, many individuals had no medical insurance. A noted author, Amy Anderson state: “Approximated 30 million Americans were anticipated to gain health insurance through the Affordable Care Act (ACA) or Obamacare; a comprehensive healthy workforce would be needed to meet the massive demand”. (Anderson, 2014)

This equates to ruffle 16.6% of the total U.S. population of 305 million in 2008. This figure has decreased significantly since the inception of the law which predicted that the law will help 32 million people. They revised this figure to 26 million people after many states changed the requirements for Medicaid. In 2014 10 million people have signed up for health insurance through the different methods offered via the Affordable Care Act. This has assisted in reducing the amount of uninsured from approximately 42 million in 2013 to 32 million. This may seem as great strides to some, however, in my eyes I believe that this is not the best performance. The reason for my stances is due to the United States’ position as the leading economy in the world compared to all other nations whether developing or developed. Other developed nations such as those of Germany where 92% of the population is covered by a health insurance system that was created in 1883 and is now subsidized partially by the government based on income, or France where almost 100% of the population is covered by health insurance largely subsidized by the French government. Based on the amount of citizens covered by the Affordable Care Act I say the leading economy can improve greatly.

While there is not one solid reason for the health of the American people to decline, we are led to believe that the uninsured people in the United States are the reason of it. According to the article, A Creeping Catastrophe according to polling firm Lake Research Partners “while 47 million Americans are uninsured, 91 percent of voters in the 2008 election had some form of health insurance” (Armstrong and Wayne 3). This equal to 15% of the USA population from that year. Now, of this 15% uninsured, how many are unemployed, homeless or really in need

Across the country, Obamacare is failing the American people with high costs, few options, and broken promises of lowering healthcare costs. Under Obamacare, premiums have risen by over 40% on average, and over 100 percent in some places making unaffordable health care services. In 2017, five states have only one insurer on the Obamacare marketplace and nearly a third of all counties have only one insurer. According to the McKinsey Center, the number of eligible Americans with only one insurer to choose from increased from 2 percent in 2016 to 18 percent in 2017. Compared to 2016, in 2017 enrollment fell by 500,000 people and enrollment is millions of people below what was initially estimated.

First, having affordable health care in the United States will decrease the number of uninsured. Although the Affordable Care Act (ACA) or Obamacare has decreased the number of uninsured people yet, there are still people without acquiring health insurance. According to The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation (KFF), which is a non-profit organization focusing on the national health issue and serving as a non-partisan source, individuals below the poverty line are at the highest risk of being uninsured. In 2015, 46% of uninsured adults said that they tried to get coverage, but did not because it was too expensive (KFF). The cost of health insurance is still an ordeal for people to get covered. The U.S government needs to consider that it is disproportionate

So why don’t these people get insurance? Well, as is so often quoted, “money makes the world go round.” When it comes to health insurance however, it is not the world, but only America that seems to have a problem with providing health care for a reasonable price to its citizens. 55 percent of uninsured people answered that the reason they are without the safety of insurance is the reason everyone expects--they cannot afford it (NRHA 1).

Nearly 48 million Americans had no health care coverage in 2005, and the number will

1. Over 41 million Americans have no health care insurance according to the U.S. Bureau of Census.

Did you know that in the year of 2012, nearly all of the Americans ages nineteen to sixty-four, which is nearly 85 million Americans that were uninsured? According to healthcareproblems.org , in America healthcare is one of the most talked about and economically challenged problems facing the U.S. today. Health care should be reduced to a reasonable price that which everyone can afford, but people disagree due to laws against it.

Because of the ACA, everyone now has access to healthcare. According to Exhibit 1, between 2013 and 2015, there are no longer states with insurance rates above 20%. Specifically in Oregon, the rates of uninsured has declined from 15-19% in 2013 to less than 10% in 2015. These numbers include people of all ages, from children to seniors. The report states that out of nine states that had a reduction of 10 to 13 percent in their uninsured rates for adults, “six of these states—California, Kentucky, Oregon, Rhode Island, Washington, and West Virginia—sliced their uninsured rates by at least half over the two years” (Commonwealth Fund, 2016).

I. More than 43 million Americans reported being uninsured throughout 2002 and millions more lack coverage for shorter periods. The lack of insurance negatively affects not only the uninsured, but their families, the communities in which they live, and the country as a whole (The Institute of Medicine).

Financial burdens greatly limit the system’s accessibility; however, many in the U.S. are unable to fully utilize either option. Census estimates from 1999 indicate that 43 million Americans live without health insurance even though 75 percent of them have a full-time job or live in a household with at least one member working full-time (Mueller, , 5) In addition to the totally uninsured, census estimates also reveal that approximately 42 million other people in the U.S. are underinsured. This means that they have some insurance, but are still unable to afford all of their needed prescriptions, tests, visits to physicians, or hospital

become available. In 2009, the number of uninsured Americans was close to fifty million. In an economy where unemployment is at an all time high, millions of Americans are without

A. To start off, currently, in the U.S., about 16 percent of our current population, which is about 44 million people, do not have any health insurance. To insurance companies, healthcare is not a right, like it is in countries like France, it is something that they just currently use as a profit. For them, customers are an asset, because unlike paying for a house or car, you never own insurance. Although the U.S. spends the most on insurance and healthcare, it still ranks as only 37th in the world for health care quality according to the World Health Report.