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Statisticians Study Who Was Helped Most By Obamacare
HughPickens.com writes We know that about 10 million more people have insurance coverage this year as a result of the Affordable Care Act but until now it has been difficult to say much about who was getting that Obamacare coverage — where they live, their age, their income and other such details. Now Kevin Quealy and Margot Sanger-Katz report in the NYT that a new data set is providing a clearer picture of which people gained health insurance under the Affordable Care Act. The data is the output of a statistical model based on a large survey of adults and shows that the law has done something rather unusual in the American economy this century: It has pushed back against inequality, essentially redistributing income — in the form of health insurance or insurance subsidies — to many of the groups that have fared poorly over the last few decades. The biggest winners from the law include people between the ages of 18 and 34; blacks; Hispanics; and people who live in rural areas. The areas with the largest increases in the health insurance rate, for example, include rural Arkansas and Nevada; southern Texas; large swaths of New Mexico, Kentucky and West Virginia; and much of inland California and Oregon.
Despite many Republican voters' disdain for the Affordable Care Act, parts of the country that lean the most heavily Republican (according to 2012 presidential election results) showed significantly more insurance gains than places where voters lean strongly Democratic. That partly reflects underlying rates of insurance. In liberal places, like Massachusetts and Hawaii, previous state policies had made insurance coverage much more widespread, leaving less room for improvement. But the correlation also reflects trends in wealth and poverty. Many of the poorest and most rural states in the country tend to favor Republican politicians.
Despite many Republican voters' disdain for the Affordable Care Act, parts of the country that lean the most heavily Republican (according to 2012 presidential election results) showed significantly more insurance gains than places where voters lean strongly Democratic. That partly reflects underlying rates of insurance. In liberal places, like Massachusetts and Hawaii, previous state policies had made insurance coverage much more widespread, leaving less room for improvement. But the correlation also reflects trends in wealth and poverty. Many of the poorest and most rural states in the country tend to favor Republican politicians.
Bingo! I would not have been able to do multiple start-ups and freelance in banking and writing if tied to a job by health insurance given that I have had imperfect health.
Score one for the UK NHS, even though also imperfect, for giving me mobility.
Rgds
Damon
http://m.earth.org.uk/
You don't understand. Your visit to the doctor costs what it does because of the complexities of the insurance system, including both health insurance and malpractice insurance. Doctors have a lot of overhead to pay, and in hospitals, they are just employees with no control over their schedules. If the administrators put 40 people per day into their schedule, they see 40 people per day. People without insurance use the emergency room to fix problems after they occur, a very expensive way to deal with health problems - something which Obamacare was feebly attempting to address. Everyone else who uses the place has to pay more to cover those costs. Every time a doctor makes an error the patient calls a lawyer. Doctors order test after test to cover their asses against malpractice suits- they are told to do so in "risk management" seminars put on by insurance companies that they must attend every year to maintain their malpractice insurance. The system is full of waste at every level. Doctors are not the cause of the problem. They have been made to look that way by insurers and hospital administrators who want to deflect attention away from themselves.
When you look at Las Vegas, what do you see? You see huge luxury hotels, bright lights, excitement, partying, etc. Where does that money come from? From losers. Yet it's the winners who get the attention. Yeah, great, Vegas baby! Now look at insurance companies. Huge luxury office buildings, executives who make millions- it's a lot like Vegas. Where does the money come from? Losers like you and me who have to pay ridiculous premiums for minimal coverage. Yeah, Insurance baby!
My son has expressed an interest in studying medicine when he graduates from high school. My wife is a physician and I am a dentist. We have suggested that he get a degree in business and become a hospital administrator. Those people make $ millions with no special skill set and without the arduous training imposed on healthcare providers.
And by "never supported", you mean were dictated their position following their party line after the GOP chose to make the ACA a wedge issue.
And Romney wasn't just some RINO rebel GOP governor in a backwater state that the GOP could write off as being a product of a liberal constituent... he was who the GOP chose to be the shining star and face of their party to combat the derivative of the very plan Romney pushed for in his home state.
You had to put some powerful spin to make that jive in your red worldview.
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