(Crankers) The Affordable Care Act was a complete disaster for the middle class and up.
Improving healthcare and providing care for all should not mean that mass amounts of people get screwed over in the process, but we did.
Here are the main reasons the Affordable Care Act was bad.
1. Higher premiums for many middle-class families
One of the biggest complaints was that everyone who was already paying for health care would be paying MORE for healthcare. So the responsible people of the country got punished to make up for the people who either didn’t care or couldn’t care.
People who don’t qualify for subsidies often saw their monthly premiums go way up, especially those buying individual plans. A lot of that came from ACA rules requiring broader coverage, which increased insurers’ costs.
2. High deductibles
Even when premiums stayed manageable, many ACA plans came with very high deductibles, sometimes $5,000–$8,000+. That meant people technically had insurance but still paid a lot out of pocket before coverage really kicked in. That made people feel like it was pointless to pay for monthly coverage, then get screwed by paying for the deductible. What was the point if you only had a few visits per year? Well, the fear that one of them could be major and you wouldn’t want to be without coverage.
3. Fewer plan choices in many counties
Insurers backed out of a bunch of markets over the years. This resulted in some counties ending up with only one insurer, meaning no competition and higher prices. The concept of an open market was erased for these people and they had no true choice of provider.
4. Some people lost their existing plans
Despite the famous line “If you like your plan, you can keep it,” millions got cancellation notices when their old plans didn’t meet ACA standards. This created anger and confusion, and is still one of the most-talked-about downsides. This was literally the biggest lie that any politician has ever told. I am an example because I literally lost my provider, who I had for over 20 years, and was a great provider.
5. Taxes and mandates
The law came with several baked-in costs, such as the individual mandate penalty. This ended in 2019 federally, but still exists in some states. Employer mandate rules were also a major issue.
A “Cadillac tax” (later repealed)
These were unpopular and created friction for small businesses and individuals.
6. Premiums kept rising anyway
One of the original promises was that Obamacare would lower premiums. What actually happened was premiums continued increasing at a similar or faster rate for people without subsidies. My insurance costs nearly doubled.
7. Narrow provider networks
To keep costs down, many ACA plans restricted which doctors and hospitals people could use. So some enrollees found out their preferred specialists or hospitals weren’t covered anymore. Imagine having a great doctor your whole life, then Obamacare screws it up by telling you that your doctor is not in the network. That’s called screwing people over for no reason.
8. Technical rollout issues
We all remember the HealthCare.gov meltdown wasn’t just about a policy flaw, but it created a reputation problem right out of the gate. They couldn’t even launch their website correctly. The whole thing, from starting point until today, was a total failure across the board.
Obamacare is the worst thing to ever happen to health care and it’s not even close.