Premiums, deductibles, claims—health insurance is tricky business and Obamacare only made it more complicated.
Now, with a month and a half left to enroll in the exchanges, states have swallowed up their $60 million federal dollar allotment for personnel needed to help those who newly qualify for insurance figure out how to utilize the insurance they signed up for.
There were, of course, some GOP states that refused the federal funding from the get-go, but now only 12 states and the District of Columbia have any working support system for new enrollees. New people may have insurance, but many have no idea how it works. As Politico reported:
The need is significant. According to a December study published in the journal Health Affairs, fewer than 1 in 4 uninsured Americans understands key terms like deductibles, out-of-pocket spending caps or provider networks. Advocates are concerned that if people run into problems after getting insurance but can’t find help, many might not seek care or renew their coverage.
This continues to expose the inefficiency of large government bureaucracy and its inability for comprehensive foresight. Even if Obama gets his 7 million enrollees, if thousands of them are uneducated about how to navigate and comprehend insurance lingo, those numbers mean absolutely nothing. Not to mention, if it takes more and more tax dollars to educate these people, is it really worth it?
In addition to getting lost in the health care labyrinth, vital hospitals, such as the Lower Oconee Community Hospital of Georgia and four other Georgia hospitals, have been forced out of business due to a lack of funding.
As The Daily Caller reported, the law requires hospitals to treat anyone who comes through their doors, regardless of their ability to pay for care. However, Obama assumed uninsured customer numbers would drop with the implementation of the ACA, and thus cut federal assistance to emergency care centers.
Ah, but then Obama unilaterally passed 28 delays on Obamacare, leaving hospitals in limbo. There are still many, many uninsured people seeking care, who hospitals are required to treat by law, but without the funding to cover the treatment. Yet another example of short-sighted and imprudent planning.
Unfortunately, there is no clean solution. Doling out more federal dollars to bail out Obamacare’s missteps only prolongs the problem – socialized healthcare will eventually collapse in on itself. However, compassionate people are aware that leaving others uneducated about insurance and shutting down hospitals only exacerbates the harm. We are stuck between that all-too-famous rock and hard place.
