Obama’s Failed Policies Reduce Personal Healthcare Spending

A recently published actuarial study conducted by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services shows that the growth of personal healthcare spending decreased in 2010 to 3.7 percent (down from 4.9 percent in 2009). The reduction in personal healthcare spending is attributed to high unemployment, individuals not seeking care, and an overall sense of economic uncertainty. Simply put, when people have less money, they have less money to spend on their healthcare.  The Obama administration has credited this decline in spending growth to the implementation of the Affordable Care Act (ACA). This claim is an insipid attempt to take lemons and make lemonade.  In 2009, nominal GDP declined for the first time since 1949, and since that time unemployment has remained well above eight percent- buttressed by the President’s policies.

The President fired a blank with an $800 billion stimulus bill that did nothing but pile on more national debt. Furthermore, the economic burdens of the ACA are yet to truly show themselves. Several provisions of the bill, including the dramatic expansion of Medicaid, will not be phased in until at least 2014. The costs of the ACA- $938 billion on its face- have been brought upon a resistant American public that is fully aware of mounting national debt and stagnant economic growth.  Healthcare spending is an enormous part of our nation’s economy, and an integral component to our everyday lives. The nation’s patience for the Obama administration’s policies and their accompanied excuses has gone sour. It is time for decisions that lead to long-term economic growth in order to enable people to make the right decisions regarding their healthcare.