Breathing Life into Obamacare?

The Affordable Care Act, popularly called Obamacare, seems like good intentions gone wrong.  In my job I have done the calculations according to the government’s formula and determined that my employer is offering “affordable healthcare” as set forth by the guidelines.  But what if it’s still not affordable?  This dilemma has led some employees to decline coverage through their employer even before Obamacare was available, only to discover that they don’t qualify for the subsidies and their rates through Obamacare are even more than the employer plan.  And yet, despite all of the documented problems such as those with the government healthcare website and with Americans losing their coverage due to non-conformance, the current administration still wants everyone to believe that Obamacare is a success. 

Tami Luhby is just one of many who reports that it’s too soon to tell.  In an article from CNN Money called “The truth behind Obamacare 6 million figure,” Luhby says that the 6 million number of enrollments is actually deceiving.  According to the article, more than half of those enrollments were for Medicaid.  She explains that the Medicaid system is so cumbersome that it does not distinguish between the newly qualified enrollments under Obamacare and the renewals.  So the 6 million enrollment figure is not an accurate measure of the effectiveness of Obamacare.  Time will tell if this massive healthcare reform plan succeeds or flat-lines.