The cost of resisting Obamacare

by | Dec 9, 2014 | Editor's Blog, Obamacare | 7 comments

North Carolina has among the highest health insurance rates in the nation. You can blame the Republicans for that. Failing to expand Medicaid or set up state exchanges has left consumers holding the bag.

Expanding Medicaid gives health insurance to people who otherwise use the emergency room as primary care, passing the significantly higher costs along to the rest of us. States who set up their own exchanges encourage more companies to compete, driving down costs. The Affordable Care Act is working and states that are taking full advantage of its provision are seeing the most benefits. Unfortunately, North Carolina is not one of those states.

Even more unfortunate is the discrepancy in the cost of insurance. People who live in the poorest counties pay the highest rates. Too many of these rural conservatives think that they are subsidizing poor people by supporting Obamacare. In fact, they are, in effect, subsidizing urban and suburban types. Their rates would probably drop the most if Medicaid and competition were expanded.

Regardless of what some critics are saying, Obamacare is working. Medical costs are increasing at the slowest rate in decades and, nationally, premiums are rising at lower levels than expected. Ten million more people gained health insurance since last year. That’s about the population of North Carolina.

It’s a shame that Democrats and their allies don’t put as much money in promoting the benefits of the program as they do in bashing the Koch brothers. In places like rural North Carolina, people need to know that their elected officials are costing them money. A long-term, sustained effort could make repeal a politically risky proposition while making Medicaid expansion and state exchanges more appealing.

7 Comments

  1. Will

    And I know lot’s of young voters who stayed home particularly because they did not want to reward the Democrats for running a negative campaign (I don’t mean tone, I mean running a campaign that essentially amounted to talking about how bad the Koch brothers are). It was certainly frustrating to hear again and again “give me a reason to vote for Hagan that is not based on Thom Tillis being worse” but there is a point there.

    • james

      We will all see in about a year from now won’t we?

  2. Bill Hutton

    I blame Democratic voters for the high cost of healthcare in NC for not getting off their as* to go vote like those racist hater do in every Election. As long as the Republicans are in control of North Carolina legislation health insurance cost will remain one higher than most other States because BCBS is rapping the public with high insurance rates and high deductibles.

    • Will

      Bill Hutton: How would Democrats coming out to vote in 2014 for a Senatorial election have impacted healthcare costs? I certainly find the low turnout of Democratic voters (particularly my fellow millennials) frustrating as well. But I do think that Democrats need to accept some real responsibility for not giving irregular voters strong enough reasons to get out on off year elections. Lots of young people have negative associations with the Koch brothers but that does not necessarily make them feel like they have reason to positively support Democratic candidates. Young people care about economic opportunities and the lack of meaningful, full time employment. Not where Thom Tillis’ out of state funds come from.

  3. Jeff's Politics

    When Republicans get rid of Obamacare and millions lose coverage guess who they will blame…..Obama.

  4. Eilene C.

    The problem is, you can show the doubters all the evidence in the world, and they STILL WON’T BELIEVE YOU. It’s absolutely insane. No matter what you say, they are “tired of providing free health care for people who won’t get a dang job, while I can’t even go to the doctor because I can’t afford my co-pays after my insurance premiums each month.” I had that conversation with someone the other day. I just shake my head and move on. It is mind-boggling.

    People that I work with (I’m a teacher) tell story after story about some welfare queen who brought her child to the doctor’s, and she was all gussied up with a high-priced manicure, the latest iPhone, a nice car, and not a care in the world about how the doctor’s visit would be paid for, while these hard-working teachers sat in the waiting room trying to figure out how they were going to pay the co-pay and other items and still be able to pay their electric and water bills that month. And, sadly, that is also true. It doesn’t have much to do with the actual health care law, but it does make them resentful to have to subsidize these peoples’ medical care.

    If you have an actual solution, let’s hear it… not that it will matter after January, anyway. I’m on the email of one of my US Representatives, a Republican, and for the last two months, he has rambled on about how quickly they are going to kill the ACA, and how they are going to fight the President’s “illegal mandates about immigration.” They are just foaming at the mouth right now. I wonder what they are going to tell people when they all get kicked off of their new insurance policies. Hmmm….. the campaign ads promised a better solution, right Mr. Tillis? We’re waiting.

  5. Will

    “It’s a shame that Democrats and their allies don’t put as much money in promoting the benefits of the program as they do in bashing the Koch brothers. In places like rural North Carolina, people need to know that their elected officials are costing them money.”

    Wonderfully said. I just with that the party drivers in D.C. establishment had enough faith in their base to make a substantive argument like this one rather than throwing out gimmicks.

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