It’s certainly no secret the Republican Party has spent a LOT of time trying to make the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare) go away. After six votes to outright repeal the Act, there were over 50 votes on defunding measures which would have crippled Obamacare, and on delaying implementation of certain provisions. Still, like “The Little Engine That Could,” Obamacare chugged along, doing what it was designed to do — give people access to affordable healthcare.
Well, that little train has done its job — at least according to the American Medical Association (no slackers when it comes to analyzing health data). In an abstract published in The Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA), an analysis was performed of the first two open enrollment periods of the Affordable Care Act. The conclusion?
“The ACA’s first 2 open enrollment periods were associated with significantly improved trends in self-reported coverage, access to primary care and medications, affordability, and health. Low-income adults in states that expanded Medicaid reported significant gains in insurance coverage and access compared with adults in states that did not expand Medicaid.”
In layman’s terms —
- 10.2 million Americans have received private coverage through Obamacare.
- Another 12.2 million have been covered by Medicaid and the Children’s Health Program.
- Costs for Medicaid have dropped dramatically and the program is fully funded for the next thirty years.
- There was an 11.9 percent decrease in uninsured Latinos; a 10.8 percent decrease in uninsured African-Americans.
- States with Medicaid expansion programs showed the most improvement in coverage and healthcare availability.
Even in the face of these overwhelming statistics, we will soon be hearing Republican candidates on the attack.
OBAMACARE IS A FAILURE!
ELECT ME!
REPEAL IT!
Is that really what is best for this country? We believe the answer is a resounding HELL NO!!!
Featured image courtesy of theobamadiary.com
