Obamacare: Why are the deficit hawks not for it?

 From 2000 through 2009, Medicare’s outlays climbed by an average of 9.7 percent a year. By contrast, since the beginning of 2010, Medicare spending has been rising by less than 4 percent a year. On this,  both Standard Poor’s Index Committee and the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) agree.

Why are we not hearing that indeed the cost curve is bending.  The objective of the Affordable Care Act is to expand care to the uninsured and to make sure that those that need care are getting care that is of high quality and affordable (the value proposition!).  So why when the healthcare industry, especially providers, are beginning to put in place, often to their own short term disadvantage, changes in practice that save money, does the Act still have a bull's eye on it?

When you start talking about cutting entitlements when there are ways to save billions annually right in front of us is surprising and seemingly not in the best interest of anyone.  The only thing that makes sense to me is that it is a sound bite that is so simplistic (government is the boogyman) that the political appeal is too much to resist.  Because from a practical sense, there is not a tea partier alive that resides in Vermont or New Jersey that wants FEMA and disaster area funds cut.

In the twelve months ending in May, overall spending by commercial health insurers climbed by 7.35 percent. By contrast, over the same span, Medicare claims rose at an annual rate of just 2.6 percent.(S&P and Congressional Budget Office)


So why do we think that the government cannot manage this huge national problem?  The facts just don't add up to support privatization.

Here are a few of the programs that have proven that expenditures can be reduced and not only not reduce quality but actually improve it (From Healthcare.gov

Proven Results with Bundled Payments
Both Medicare and private health care providers have shown that bundling payments improves care for patients, and leads to better health, better care and lower costs. 

• During the five-year Heart Bypass Center Demonstration (started in 1986) Medicare saved $42.5 million – or 10 percent – on Coronary Artery Bypass Graft surgery at participating hospitals  in Atlanta, Columbus, Ann Arbor (Michigan), and Boston, largely through improved hospital processes and a reduced need for intensive care.  Medicare patients saved $7.9 million in coinsurance payments.
• Medicare’s three-year cataract surgery demonstration (started in 1993) was also successful in reducing Medicare spending by $500,000 for approximately 7,000 procedures at sites in Cleveland, Dallas/Fort Worth, and Phoenix.
• The fixed price for Coronary Artery Bypass Grafts (CABG) under Geisinger’s ProvenCare reduced costs and improved patient care showing that hospital costs dropped 5 percent, average length of stay fell by 0.5 days, and the 30-day readmission rate fell 44 percent over 18 months for Pennsylvania hospitals in Geisinger’s network.

These are real results that can attack the out of control costs by creating systemic change - not by denying care.  As the old song goes,  "all we are saying, is give (peace) a chance"  - I think its time to give the Affordable Care Act a chance.  This program deserves the support it needs to assure that no one is going to go bankrupt after an unnecessarily long hospital stay!