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MSN Money
Obamacare's
dark secret: 31 million still can't afford treatment
Brianna Ehley, Fiscal Times
The president’s health care law sliced America’s uninsured rate down to
historic lows by expanding coverage for tens of millions of Americans.
At the same time, however, the number of insured people who still lack
access to robust coverage is rising sharply as more people buy
high-deductible policies.
A new study from the Commonwealth Fund reveals that about 23 percent of
Americans with coverage are considered underinsured—up from 12 percent
in 2003. That means roughly 31 million Americans who bought health
insurance still have trouble affording treatment under their policies.
The researchers at the Commonwealth Fund defined “underinsured” people
as having out-of-pocket costs that total 10 percent or more of their
annual income, or a deductible that is 5 percent or more of their
income. The study concluded that high-deductible policies are likely
the culprit behind this massive influx of underinsured people.
The findings are a huge problem for the Obama administration since the
entire goal was to expand access to coverage to millions of Americans
that they presumably would use instead of delaying treatment. But a
handful of recent studies show that even people with health insurance
are delaying treatment because they can’t afford it...
Read the rest of the article at MSN Money
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