Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Perspectives On The Affordable Care Act -- Is It Meeting Expectations?
Bloomberg: Obamacare Is Smaller Than Anyone Expected
My recent column on the sixth anniversary of President Obama's Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare, generated some energetic criticism -- or, rather, half a paragraph of it did. While I acknowledged that many Americans have benefited from the law, I also said that the Obama administration was too eager to give it credit for slowing the growth of health-care spending. This slowdown, I pointed out, had begun in 2002, years before Obamacare was enacted. (I could have added that the decline was not confined to the U.S.) (Ramesh Ponnuru, 4/11)
Los Angeles Times: Will Obamacare End 'Job Lock'?
The Affordable Care Act was first and foremost intended to extend health insurance coverage to a broader segment of the population. It has largely succeeded, with the uninsured rate among the non-elderly population falling to 10.7 %, from more than 18% just before the law took effect. (Dean Baker, 4/11)
National Review: The Latest Problem Under The Affordable Care Act: Deductibles
We hear it every day from supporters of the Affordable Care Act: The fact that more people have health insurance now than before the law was signed is proof that it’s working. But this is hardly the best measure of the law’s success — after all, what good is health-insurance coverage for middle- and low-income families if they can’t afford to use it? That’s the plight millions of Americans find themselves in today. And as a new analysis by my organization shows, it only got worse this year. (Nathan Nascimento, 4/12)
The New York Times: The Obamacare Replacement Mirage
Hype springs eternal — certainly when it comes to Paul Ryan, whose media image as a Serious, Honest Conservative and policy wonk seems utterly impervious to repeated demonstrations that he is neither serious nor honest, and that he actually knows very little about policy. And here we go again. But what really amazes me about the latest set of stories is the promise that Ryan will finally deliver the Republican Obamacare alternative that his colleagues in Congress have somehow failed to produce after all these years. No, he won’t — because there is no alternative. (Paul Krugman, 4/11)
WBUR: What Analysts Say About The Mass. Health Law That’s Turning 10
WBUR first started CommonHealth to track a law that had an ambitious goal: health coverage for virtually every Massachusetts resident. It’s been 10 years since that reform effort. To mark the anniversary, we asked a number of health experts to offer their takes on the law. (4/12)
The Boston Globe: The Misguided — And Costly — Evolution Of ‘Romneycare’
The Affordable Care Act is now six years old. Perhaps more important for Massachusetts, this month marks the 10th anniversary of “Romneycare,” making it a good time to review that law’s impact. (Josh Archambault and Jim Stergios, 4/12)
