Beneath health law’s botched rollout is basic benefit for millions of uninsured Americans

[babylonsister]

Beneath health law’s botched rollout is basic benefit for millions of uninsured Americans
By Lena H. Sun and Amy Goldstein

snip//

And as New Year’s Day approaches, and with it, health insurance, their frustration is trumped by gratitude. “I get these messages from acquaintances on Facebook saying, ‘Let me keep my doctor,’ ’’ Peterson said. “Well, what about those of us who didn’t have health insurance before? .?.?. I have been walking a tightrope and have had some twists and falls off of it. To not have to worry about this anymore is a tremendous relief.”

Getting Americans health insurance is at the heart of the health law, the most significant change in health-care policy since the 1965 creation of Medicare, the federal program for the elderly, and Medicaid, the federal-state program for the poor and disabled. Such a dramatic expansion in coverage had eluded presidents, including Republican Richard Nixon and Democrat Bill Clinton, for decades.

This core mission has sometimes been obscured by the political and legal disputes that have dogged and, in important ways, altered the law. Strong research links having health insurance and being healthy. Having a health plan does not guarantee that a good doctor is within reach when a patient needs one. But insurance matters.

snip//

‘Desperate’ for insurance

Various studies have found that children without insurance are less likely to get immunized or treated for a sore throat or even a ruptured appendix. Adults without coverage are less likely to get mammograms or prostate exams. If they have high blood pressure or diabetes, it is more likely to be out of control. If they have a stroke, it is more likely to leave lasting damage. The Institute of Medicine has said there’s “a chasm” between the health needs of uninsured people and their access to effective care — a gap that “results in needless illness, suffering and even death.”

In health-care economics, it is considered rational to provide coverage, so that people can readily get small medical problems taken care of before they become big, expensive, pent-up medical problems. But the gallbladder surgery Peterson is about to have and the unforeseen ailments that Munstock’s physical on Thursday could unearth also illustrate a risk for the health plans that have been signing up new patients under the law: Unless those plans also attract new customers who are young, healthy and inexpensive to insure, the rush of people like Peterson and Munstock is going to freight the new system with costs that are too heavy. Insurance rates could go up. Plans could drop out. Will it happen? No one knows.

That is the macro view. The micro view, for people who have been waiting for insurance for years, is financial protection. Hospitals frequently charge uninsured people two to four times what health insurers and government programs pay for hospital services, according to a 2007 Health Affairs study.

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http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/beneath-health-laws-botched-rollout-is-basic-benefit-for-millions-of-uninsured-americans/2013/12/28/8ae8d93e-68e5-11e3-8b5b-a77187b716a3_story.html

[ProSense]

1. This is the

"‘Desperate’ for insurance "

...key fact lost in the noise: The uninsured now have access to health coverage.

The media reports since the start of the enrollment period have ignored the fact that 47 million people have no insurance.

They've worked hard to create the impression that Obamacare is the cause of the problem by focusing on the cancellation letters.

Those 47 million people didn't get cancellation letters. They had no access. Period.

Going forward, those who receive cancellation letters will still have access, and now, so will tens of millions of uninsured.

[Scurrilous]

2. K & R