My family doctor opposed Medicare/Medicaid. Back in 1965 he predicted what would happen. Coming back into private practice after WWII, he was astonished by the number of cases he picked up now that people had more money to spend. He told me that there is no limit to the demand for medical treatment, that much of it is unnecessary, and that by making it cheap, Medicare, medicaid would make doctors and hospitals wealthy but that prices would go out of sight. That eventually every medical person would become, in effect, a government employee.
My sister-in-law works PR for a major hospital - and I asked her this past holiday about the impact of the ACA on hospitals nationwide...she aid her hospital alone takes in 60% federal funds that pay for patients there — and that the ACA is moving to make sure it’s 100%...where people who want to negotiate a price for a medical procedure and pay out of pocket - won’t be able to...Welcome to the Hunger Games!