
Katy Talento: ‘This study reveals how the Affordable Care Act has not only fallen short of its claims but has worsened the situation for millions of Americans. By contrast, Health Care Sharing Ministries keep their promises’
WASHINGTON — The Affordable Care Act (Obamacare) was sold to the American people based on false promises, and it has not delivered on any of them, according to a new report. “The ACA failed to bend the cost curve, millions of people lost their preferred plans and doctors, and it has significantly added to federal deficits,” says Brian Blase, president of Paragon Health Institute.
“This study reveals how the Affordable Care Act has not only fallen short of its claims but has worsened the situation for millions of Americans,” said Katy Talento, executive director of the Alliance of Health Care Sharing Ministries. “By contrast, Health Care Sharing Ministries keep their promises. They are helping hard-pressed families and individuals meet their medical expenses.”
Here is a summary of the issues discussed in the paper, “The Falsehoods of Obamacare.”
Promise: The ACA would help cut the deficit, including its student loan provisions. Result: The ACA has significantly added to the federal debt, including costly student loan losses.
Promise: The ACA would “bend the cost curve,” saving $2,500 per family. Result: Individual market premiums nearly doubled from 2013 to 2017. The primary ACA provision for bending the curve, the “Cadillac tax,” never went into effect.
Promise: The ACA would save lives. Result: Life expectancy fell three consecutive years for the first time in nearly 100 years (see more below).
Promise: The ACA would take the stress out of shopping for health insurance. Result: The ACA portal was one of the most notoriously unreliable websites ever launched.
Promise: Penalties on employers that fail to provide coverage would provide massive revenue. Result: Actual collections are less than 5% of what was projected.
Promise: The ACA would increase economic growth. Result: The ACA resulted in smaller businesses, fewer full-time jobs, and significant disincentives to work.
Promise: Medicaid would be an efficient way to increase coverage. Result: The ACA’s Medicaid expansion is far more expensive than projected.
Promise: If you liked your plan and doctor, you would be able to keep them. Result: Millions of people had their plans canceled and lost access to their doctors.
Declining life expectancy
Life expectancy did not increase after 2014, which is the year the ACA expanded Medicaid and the new exchanges were implemented, according to a study published by the Texas Public Policy Foundation. Instead, after increasing an average of 1.5 years per decade before 2014, life expectancy declined from 2014 through 2017.
Drug costs projected to soar
One of the key provisions of the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act was a redesign of Medicare’s Part D drug program that capped out-of-pocket expenses at $2,000 per year and shifted significant costs to taxpayers. A new analysis from the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) reaffirms the high cost of the Biden administration’s drug policies. The CBO finds that these costs will be much higher than expected – potentially up to $20 billion higher in 2025 alone.
More work is needed on price transparency
Price-gouging and price collusion by hospitals and other health care providers are largely driving the increase in health care costs. A new report by the Government Accountability Office (GAO) finds that more action is needed to ensure price transparency. In 2021, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) required hospitals to publish their prices in a standardized, machine-readable format. This basic step towards transparency was intended to help keep prices down by increasing competition.
“Rising prices for hospital services have contributed to a nearly 50 percent increase in private health plan spending from 2012 through 2022,” the GAO said, noting that in 2024, CMS updated its requirements to address some challenges with using the pricing data. The agency recommends that, among other things, assessing compliance could include “soliciting stakeholder feedback or conducting a study of hospital file completeness and accuracy.”
“Since 2021, federal transparency law has required hospitals to reveal secret costs, but the current administration has largely given a pass to the two-thirds of hospitals that flout the rule,” Talento said. “Illegally hiding prices is where the rip-offs start. Garnishing wages of low-income earners and sending them into a black hole of more financial hardship is often how it plays out. With HCSMs, there are no hidden costs, no broken promises, and the blessings of being in a community of like-minded Christians supporting the health care needs of one another. These ministries have worked hard for decades to educate and raise awareness about their unique solution for high health care costs.”
Founded in 2007 and headquartered in Washington, D.C., the Alliance of Health Care Sharing Ministries is a 501(c)(6) trade organization representing the common interests of Health Care Sharing Ministries which are facilitating the sharing of health care needs (financial, emotional, and spiritual) by individuals and families, and their participants. The Alliance engages with federal and state regulators, members of the media, and the Christian community to provide accurate and timely information on health care sharing.
To learn more about the Alliance of Health Care Sharing Ministries, visit www.ahcsm.org or follow the ministry on Facebook or Twitter.
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To interview a representative from The Alliance of Health Care Sharing Ministries, contact Media@HamiltonStrategies.com, Beth Bogucki, 610.584.1096, ext. 105.