(10-19-2016 09:13 AM)Fitbud Wrote:  I asked this question in another Obamacare thread but I don't think I got an answer.

Many on this forum have suggested a distinct difference between health care and health insurance.

If Obamacare ( the affordable health care act) is a law that is supposed to make health care more affordable, what does an increase on health insurance have to do with it?

Simple supply/demand. The thought that ACA would make health care more affordable was because the uninsured would now have insurance, thus making it cheaper for them to go to the doctor. That, among other lies, was how they sold the legislation as making health care cheaper. The law itself doesn't make routine office visits, colonscopies, ct scans, or any other tests cost any less, so the actual cost of health care itself hasn't changed any, just certain people's OOP costs have changed.

IMHO health insurance itself is what drives prices up because there is no clue as to what things actually cost. I work in health care. I see patients daily. I have no clue what anything that I order actually costs, and that annoys me. I'll go and ask our office admin what the price for a certain surgical procedure is and she'll give me about 3-4 different numbers.

(10-19-2016 09:13 AM)Fitbud Wrote:  I asked this question in another Obamacare thread but I don't think I got an answer.

Many on this forum have suggested a distinct difference between health care and health insurance.

If Obamacare ( the affordable health care act) is a law that is supposed to make health care more affordable, what does an increase on health insurance have to do with it?

Really? Read any one of Hambone's numerous posts in multiple threads for your answer.

(10-19-2016 09:42 AM)dfarr Wrote:  

(10-19-2016 09:13 AM)Fitbud Wrote:  I asked this question in another Obamacare thread but I don't think I got an answer.

Many on this forum have suggested a distinct difference between health care and health insurance.

If Obamacare ( the affordable health care act) is a law that is supposed to make health care more affordable, what does an increase on health insurance have to do with it?

Simple supply/demand. The thought that ACA would make health care more affordable was because the uninsured would now have insurance, thus making it cheaper for them to go to the doctor. That, among other lies, was how they sold the legislation as making health care cheaper. The law itself doesn't make routine office visits, colonscopies, ct scans, or any other tests cost any less, so the actual cost of health care itself hasn't changed any, just certain people's OOP costs have changed.

IMHO health insurance itself is what drives prices up because there is no clue as to what things actually cost. I work in health care. I see patients daily. I have no clue what anything that I order actually costs, and that annoys me. I'll go and ask our office admin what the price for a certain surgical procedure is and she'll give me about 3-4 different numbers.

If millions more people were able to pay into the system, shouldn't have insurance companies lowered their prices? If there isn't a finite amount of insurance to be had, why would prices be going up?

Granted, health care hasn't decreased in price but as far as I know, there hasn't been an increased demand on finite resources like doctors, hospitals, or medication. If demand for these services hasn't gone up, why hasn't health care gone down?

(10-19-2016 09:56 AM)Fitbud Wrote:  

(10-19-2016 09:42 AM)dfarr Wrote:  

(10-19-2016 09:13 AM)Fitbud Wrote:  I asked this question in another Obamacare thread but I don't think I got an answer.

Many on this forum have suggested a distinct difference between health care and health insurance.

If Obamacare ( the affordable health care act) is a law that is supposed to make health care more affordable, what does an increase on health insurance have to do with it?

Simple supply/demand. The thought that ACA would make health care more affordable was because the uninsured would now have insurance, thus making it cheaper for them to go to the doctor. That, among other lies, was how they sold the legislation as making health care cheaper. The law itself doesn't make routine office visits, colonscopies, ct scans, or any other tests cost any less, so the actual cost of health care itself hasn't changed any, just certain people's OOP costs have changed.

IMHO health insurance itself is what drives prices up because there is no clue as to what things actually cost. I work in health care. I see patients daily. I have no clue what anything that I order actually costs, and that annoys me. I'll go and ask our office admin what the price for a certain surgical procedure is and she'll give me about 3-4 different numbers.

If millions more people were able to pay into the system, shouldn't have insurance companies lowered their prices? If there isn't a finite amount of insurance to be had, why would prices be going up?

Granted, health care hasn't decreased in price but as far as I know, there hasn't been an increased demand on finite resources like doctors, hospitals, or medication. If demand for these services hasn't gone up, why hasn't health care gone down?

The only way that prices go down when demand goes up is if there is also an increase in supply. Simple Econ101. If demand matches supply, then the cost remains the same. If supply increases but demand decreases, then costs drop.

Many of the new people in the system were previously uninsurable on the individual market, thus now they cost companies more money. Or many were poor and couldn't afford insurance, but now they have it courtesy of a federal subsidy, and abuse the crap out of it because they're ignorant and don't have to pay anything.

Insurance companies haven't lowered their prices because they've lost billions, which is why many of them are getting out of ACA plans.