Austin, TX – John Davidson, Health Care Policy Analyst at the Center for Health Care Policy at the Texas Public Policy Foundation, issued this statement in response to the President’s visit to Dallas, Texas, today. The President is reportedly visiting to tout the Affordable Care Act, popularly known as ObamaCare, and urge the expansion of Medicaid under its provisions:
“Since the formal launch of ObamaCare, millions more Americans have lost the coverage they had than have enrolled in the exchanges, which still are not working properly. The ObamaCare rollout is proof positive that that government-run healthcare is a bad idea, and that this disastrous law should be scrapped.
“Despite the Obama administration’s attempt to put a good face on the health care law, Texans now know that coverage under ObamaCare will be dramatically more expensive for a lot of people than it was prior to ObamaCare. Young Texans will be hit especially hard. Our analysis of rates shows that the cheapest plans available on the federally-run exchange are in some areas of the state 150 percent more expensive than what is available to many young people today.
“As for Medicaid, it is not only costly and inefficient, but it is harmful to the low-income Texans that rely on it for health care. Forcing 1.5 million more Texans into a program that provides inadequate access to care will strain an already frayed safety net. Medicaid needs reform, not expansion, so that it will be sustainable in the long term for those it was originally meant to serve.”
The latest Foundation study on the costs of ObamaCare to Texans may be found here.
John Davidson is a policy analyst for the Center for Health Care Policy with the Texas Public Policy Foundation, a non-profit, free-market research institute based in Austin, Texas.
The Texas Public Policy Foundation is a non-profit, free-market research institute based in Austin.
Primary website: www.TexasPolicy.com
Facebook page: www.Facebook.com/TexasPublicPolicyFoundation
Twitter feed: www.Twitter.com/TPPF
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