Uploaded May 2025 | Updated September 2026, 2 days ago
The high cost of health care is once again in the news, and we've seen this movie play out several times before.
Just 15 years ago, Obamacare was supposed to "fix" the unaffordability problem once and for all... But it largely did the opposite. Healthcare has gotten significantly less affordable, and in many ways poorer in quality since Obamacare has been the law of the land, and that's hardly the first time government meddling in the health care system has produced worse results.
Time and time again, we see the government stepping in trying to fix problems that were caused by previous regulations, often advocated by people using the exact same arguments about making insurance and doctor's visits more affordable. This pattern goes all the way back to the 1940s, and yet the one thing the government seems to be incapable of doing is getting out of the way and letting the market actually function for a change.
As we're looking at yet another top-down policy purporting to solve the high cost of health care, it's important to remember what happened the last time.
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LINKS:
news.ehealthinsurance.com/news/average-individual-health-insurance-premiums-increased-99-since-2013-the-year-before-obamacare-family-premiums-increased-140-according-to-ehealth-com-shopping-data
Obamacare more than doubled health insurance costs for workers and families, with the national average premium increasing by 129 percent from 2013 to 2019.
hhs.gov/healthcare/about-the-aca/pre-existing-conditions/index.html
Health insurance companies cannot refuse coverage or charge you more just because you have a “pre-existing condition”.
healthcare.gov/how-plans-set-your-premiums
How premiums are determined.
commonwealthfund.org/publications/issue-briefs/2018/apr/how-affordable-care-act-has-affected-health-coverage-young-men
ACA Health Coverage for Young Men with Higher Incomes
nasdaq.com/articles/more-than-half-of-us-wealth-belongs-to-baby-boomers:-will-other-generations-catch-up
More Than Half of US Wealth Belongs to Baby Boomers: Will Other Generations Catch Up?
visualcapitalist.com/charted-u-s-wealth-by-generation
Charted: U.S. Wealth by Generation - Visual Capitalist
healthcare.gov/choose-a-plan/catastrophic-health-plans
Catastrophic health plans
The high cost of health care is once again in the news, and we've seen this movie play out several times before.
Just 15 years ago, Obamacare was supposed to "fix" the unaffordability problem once and for all... But it largely did the opposite. Healthcare has gotten significantly less affordable, and in many ways poorer in quality since Obamacare has been the law of the land, and that's hardly the first time government meddling in the health care system has produced worse results.
Time and time again, we see the government stepping in trying to fix problems that were caused by previous regulations, often advocated by people using the exact same arguments about making insurance and doctor's visits more affordable. This pattern goes all the way back to the 1940s, and yet the one thing the government seems to be incapable of doing is getting out of the way and letting the market actually function for a change.
As we're looking at yet another top-down policy purporting to solve the high cost of health care, it's important to remember what happened the last time.
________________________
LINKS:
news.ehealthinsurance.com/news/average-individual-health-insurance-premiums-increased-99-since-2013-the-year-before-obamacare-family-premiums-increased-140-according-to-ehealth-com-shopping-data
Obamacare more than doubled health insurance costs for workers and families, with the national average premium increasing by 129 percent from 2013 to 2019.
hhs.gov/healthcare/about-the-aca/pre-existing-conditions/index.html
Health insurance companies cannot refuse coverage or charge you more just because you have a “pre-existing condition”.
healthcare.gov/how-plans-set-your-premiums
How premiums are determined.
commonwealthfund.org/publications/issue-briefs/2018/apr/how-affordable-care-act-has-affected-health-coverage-young-men
ACA Health Coverage for Young Men with Higher Incomes
nasdaq.com/articles/more-than-half-of-us-wealth-belongs-to-baby-boomers:-will-other-generations-catch-up
More Than Half of US Wealth Belongs to Baby Boomers: Will Other Generations Catch Up?
visualcapitalist.com/charted-u-s-wealth-by-generation
Charted: U.S. Wealth by Generation - Visual Capitalist
healthcare.gov/choose-a-plan/catastrophic-health-plans
Catastrophic health plans
