“One of the major factors is the failure of this House and this Congress to do anything but engage in obstructionist tactics concerning the Affordable Care Act”, he said.
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President Obama has managed a lot of firsts during his time in office. He cites 20 million people who have gained insurance through the program, an increase which has brought the percentage of people without insurance in the U.S.to 9.1% in 2015. “It should be preserved”, President Obama wrote.
The years since the ACA was passed has had a fair amount of complications especially in the courts and Congress, Obama wrote. That’s why we are dedicated to repealing this flawed law and advancing patient focused solutions that truly expand choice and access to high-quality, affordable health care. But he acknowledged that – despite the title of the law – health care and health insurance were still unaffordable for some people. To put it simply, President Obama had some help, in the form of assistants (he specifically credits Matthew Fiedler, Ph.D., and Jeanne Lambrew, Ph.D., for their help in writing the article) and researchers on the White House staff. The rate of uninsured has fallen across the country, but has done so most readily in those states that have participated in the Medicaid expansion.
While successful in its primary goal, President Obama also reviewed how the ACA has addressed the so called “triple aim” of medicine – providing better care at lower costs to improve the public’s health. Obama explains that this will strengthen the health insurance marketplace and position more affordable coverage options for consumers nationwide. “Despite this progress, too many Americans still strain to pay for their physician visits and prescriptions, cover their deductibles, or pay their monthly insurance bills; struggle to navigate a complex, sometimes bewildering system; and remain uninsured”.
Helping contain health insurance premiums and cost sharing, the health care system must accelerate its efforts to reduce overall health care spending in ways that do not rely principally on shifting the cost burden onto insured persons who can not afford to pay more for their medical care. The article spoke favorably of the work that bears his signature, while emphasizing that more progress needs to be made. The ACA supports competition and has encouraged the entry of hospital-based plans, Medicaid managed care plans, and other plans into new areas. Obama, recognizing that the ACA provides no provision for a federal public option, asks Congress to amend the ACA to have the feds establish one in state exchanges with little or no insurance competition – about 12 mostly rural states. “Public programs like Medicare often deliver care more cost-effectively by curtailing administrative overhead and securing better prices from providers”, he writes.
“While the lessons enumerated above may seem daunting, the ACA experience nevertheless makes me optimistic about this country’s capacity to make meaningful progress on even the biggest public policy challenges”. This is just a few days after Hillary Clinton said that she was open to the idea of a public option of health care in the United States.
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Reviving the idea on Monday, Obama said that a public plan – in places lacking competition – would give consumers more affordable options while also saving money for the government. The number of uninsured individuals in the United States has declined from 49 million in 2010 to 29 million in 2015.
