This isn't really new news, but the "repeal"-waggers would do well to remember
how high the numbers have gotten:
About three in ten of all Americans forgo getting medical treatment due to the high costs of U.S. health care, according to a new survey by Gallup. Unsurprisingly, the issue is even worse among people who don’t have access to health insurance. Three in five uninsured Americans skip out on care over cost concerns.
Americans pay significantly more out of their own pockets for medical care than residents of all other affluent nations, and correspondingly put off treatment at much higher rates than people in other wealthy countries.
To say only three in five uninsured Americans skip care because of the price seems low; I would assume that means the other two in five were blessed with no health problems to be treated.
If health care reform can get the overall numbers down, it would be a godsend to both individual Americans and the wider economy. If not, we have to try again. As for the high-uninsured states that have opted out of doing anything to help their citizens because it would make certain politicians sad, I can only hope those politicians are a lot sadder after their constituents figure out just how damaging the opt-outs are going to be.