Shocker: Obamacare Not Exactly Bending The Health Care Cost Curve
Back in 2010, Obama administration members were touting the impact “pilot programs” in Obamacare would have on lowering costs in Medicare (via Michael Cannon):
[The law's] pilot programs involving bundled payments will provide physicians and hospitals with incentives to coordinate care for patients with chronic illnesses: keeping these patients healthy and preventing hospitalizations will be financially advantageous…And the secretary of health and human services (HHS) is empowered to expand successful pilot programs without the need for additional legislation.
So how has that worked out? Not so good, according to the Congressional Budget Office. If anything, Obamacare’s “programs” are driving costs higher in most instances:
In nearly every program, spending was either unchanged or increased relative to the spending that would have occurred in the absence of the program, when the fees paid to the participating organizations were considered. …
Only one of the four demonstrations of value-based payment has yielded significant savings for the Medicare program.
Doing nothing was better than passing Obamacare.
Tags: Barack Obama, Health Care, health insurance, medicare, obamacare
