New data from a variety of government sources demonstrates that the gains in insurance coverage since Obamacare was fully implemented are more a result of the law, than economic recovery.
Under ‘‘Obamacare,’’ the share of Americans without health insurance has dropped to a historic low of about 9 percent, with room to go even lower. But even as the economy has expanded, major government surveys point to a lackluster rebound for employer-based coverage.
‘‘It’s very clear that the Affordable Care Act has done most of the work in decreasing the number of uninsured,’’ said economist Robert Kaestner of the University of Illinois Chicago.
For example, the Census Bureau’s American Community Survey found about 3 million gained employer coverage between 2010 and 2014, but the number of uninsured dropped by 10 million, with the strongest gains coming from Medicaid coverage. Additionally, the National Health Interview Survey from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention identified essentially flat employer coverage in the four-year period, with 12.6 million more people with health insurance. Finally, the Census Bureau's Current Population Survey "found no statistically significant change in the number of people covered by employers from 2013 to 2014," but identified 9 million no longer uninsured.
That means that a lot of people got coverage from Obamacare. It didn't ruin the economy, and it didn't kill jobs. Go figure. Obamacare has already faded as a campaign issue in this ridiculous campaign season, and for good reason. It's working. People like it. Republicans have absolutely no clue what to do to replace. It's time to stop talking about repealing it and time to talk about improving it.
