It Isn't Right to Say ObamaCare Is Reducing Costs Now

Jason Furman's attributing annual declines in the rate of increase of health-care spending to the passage of ObamaCare is politically motivated wishful thinking, not economic analysis.

Letters to the editor, WSJ, 1-17-14.

"The op-ed by the White House Council of Economic Advisers Chairman Jason Furman ("ObamaCare is Slowing Health Inflation," Jan. 7) attributing annual declines in the rate of increase of health-care spending to the passage of ObamaCare is politically motivated wishful thinking, not economic analysis. 

Mr. Furman discusses a study published by the Office of the Actuary at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services reporting slow growth in national health-care spending for the fourth consecutive year in 2012, but he fails to mention that the CMS authors attributed the slowdown to the recession. The study reports that the passage of ObamaCare in 2010 had only "a minimal impact" on health-care costs.

The slowing of growth in health-care costs began in 2008-09, immediately after the recession and well before ObamaCare was passed. Most ObamaCare provisions only come online in 2014. How could it have lowered costs for four years starting in 2009? A careful reading of Mr. Furman's article reveals that he discusses predictions of future savings we should expect from ObamaCare provisions (e.g., projected benefits of Accountable Care Organizations) rather than anything that has already occurred.

Health-care costs are likely to rise as more people gain insurance and as people use their new coverage. The results of the Oregon Medicaid experiment are instructive and discouraging. As compared with the control group, the group that gained Medicaid coverage reported higher utilization of services and much higher medical expenditures but little or no improvement in health outcomes.

Joel M. Zinberg, M.D., F.A.C.S. 

New York

 

The slowing increase in the cost of health care is due to rising costs to the consumer. Nearly every health plan we see has increased its out-of-pocket costs for patients. When patients have increased costs, they become much more efficient consumers of health care. I see this effect every day in my practice. People don't ask for the extra test with low yield when they have money in the game. 

Let's hope the chairman of the White House Council of Economic Advisers understands this concept. 

Neal Lintecum, M.D.

Lawrence, Kan."