Healthcare costs have soared. Obamacare failed to live up to its promises. And my lead image dramatically understates the problems with costs…
Data from the BLS, chart by Mish
Changes Since 1983
- CPI: 208 percent
- Medical Care Services: 505 percent
- Hospital Services: 975 percent
- Medical Care Commodities: 308 Percent
Changes Since Obamacare Started
- CPI: 41.28 percent
- Medical Care Services: 77.98 percent
- Hospital Services: 77.98 percent
- Medical Care Commodities: 29.94 percent
Understanding BLS Calculations
The numbers look bad but they are much worse than they look because of the way the BLS calculates the CPI.
On all CPI calculations, the BLS only counts costs directly paid by consumers.
To the extent corporations and Medicare are obscuring more of the costs, the CPI numbers are understated.
Health Insurance Coverage 2023
- Employment-based insurance: 54.5% of the population
- Medicare and Medicaid: 18.8% of the population
- Direct-purchase coverage: 9.9% of the population
- TRICARE (Active Military Service): 2.4% of the population
- VA and CHAMPVA coverage: 1.0% of the population
The above is an AI-generated response. It totals 86.6 percent.
Census. Gov says that in 2022, 92.1 percent of people, or 304.0 million, had health insurance at some point in the year.
Those in various Medicare plans have seen smaller increases than those buying insurance for themselves.
And the cost of direct pay is outrageous. Large corporations can get better deals than smaller ones.
The BLS averages this all in to arrive at the numbers posted in the chart. Heaven help anyone paying for their own insurance who gets cancer or other serious needs.
Rolling the Dice
Obamacare penalizes young and healthy for the benefit of those older and with conditions.
Young adults not working for a company that provides health care benefits frequently opt out. No one can blame them.
Pure unadulterated greed
Souce of the problem is OBAMACARE
Solution is obvious: A single payer system, Medicare for all.