Study: Trump’s Obamacare Reforms Will Save Americans $450 Billion

A White House study released on Friday found that President Donald Trump’s Obamacare reforms will save Americans roughly $450 billion over the next ten years.

A White House Council of Economic Advisers (CEA) study released on Friday found that Americans will save $450 billion through Trump’s Obamacare reforms. The CEA suggested that Trump’s repeal of the Obamacare individual mandate and the expansion of short-term insurance plans and Association Health Plans (AHPs) will save Americans billions over the next ten years.

The White House also suggested that the benefits of Trump’s deregulatory actions saved Americans billions, increased access to more health insurance options, and did not amount to a “sabotage” of the Affordable Care Act (ACA).

President Trump signed an executive order in October 2017 which expanded short-term limited-duration health insurance plans.

Short-term plans allow for Americans to keep their plans for up to 364 days and to renew their plans for up to three years. Because short-term plans do not have to comply with many Obamacare insurance regulations, insurance companies can offer more customized and cheaper plans compared to the individual market.

Trump also expanded AHPs, which offer businesses and workers more affordable health insurance options. AHPs are health insurance pools sponsored by an industry, trade, or professional association that provides health coverage to their members.

Land O’ Lakes, which created the nation’s first AHP, said that their plans were roughly 50 percent less expensive compared to Obamacare plans.

The CEA estimated that five million Americans will choose an AHP or a short-term plan as the result of the Trump administration’s health care executive orders. The study also suggested that another five million will benefit as the result of the repeal of Obamacare’s individual mandate.

Many Americans have contended that because 80 percent of those who paid the Obamacare mandate...

From the executive summary:

Our overall finding is that these changes, including the Trump Administration’s deregulatory reforms to expand health coverage options, will generate benefits to Americans that are worth an estimated $450 billion over the next 10 years. The reduction of the individual mandate penalty to zero accounts for $14 billion per year; the AHP rule accounts for $8 billion per year; the STLDI reform accounts for $8 billion per year; and the reduction in the excess burdens of labor taxation accounts for $15 billion per year. We estimate that the reforms will benefit lower and middle-income consumers and all taxpayers but will impose costs on some middle- and higher-income consumers, who will pay higher insurance premiums. The benefits of giving a large set of consumers more insurance options will far outweigh the projected costs imposed on the smaller set who will pay higher premiums. We provide estimates that these reforms do not “sabotage” the ACA but rather provide a more efficient focus of tax-funded care to those in need.

Sorry, I wasn’t around most of the day.

This is our 3rd year of liberty health share. The first was an experiment for the first Obamacare year. The previous year, I had brain surgery at cedars Sinai and at the end of the year I added up our premiums and deductibles, the 20% and all we paid, then added up what we would have paid cash for the family’s medical care for the whole year, and cash was cheaper! Our $1700 monthly premiums were about to go up to $2500 a month and we couldn’t afford it.

When we 6 people switched to Liberty, our monthly premium was $600. Our deductible (they call it something else, same thing really) was so low, with no conditions, just once you’ve spent that amount on any combo of family members, Liberty covers 100% of your medical bills up to $1 million.

The two things you might not like are:

- prescriptions are not covered at all. We don’t take tons of meds, so it isn’t a problem. When I used to have more migraines, I’d order from a good Canadian pharmacy and get larger amounts of migraine meds made for the European market through them.

- most doctors don’t “work with” Liberty, which doesn’t matter to Liberty (they will still pay out), but means you have to front the $. Maybe not hospital emergencies or plan ahead expensive tests or surgeries. Liberty has fronted some of the bigger ones we’ve had. But most doctor visits etc, I front the $ and after the deductible is met, they reimburse 100%.

- Another point is that they do not cover mental health. Or anything not by a medical professional. Like alternative healers and such.

We are VERY happy. And I shop around like I would for any service. When a doctor requests labs, I go through the tests with him 1 by one to see which are really necessary and which are merely CYAs for him, and I cross out the ones not necessary. I will call 2 or 3 locations for MRIs and go to the most affordable. This is how everyone should treat medical services, but the insurance coverage has trained patients to waste, waste, waste.

I always ask for cash discounts too, and most doctors have them. They are thrilled to swipe a card and print out an itemized coded statement for you to send to Liberty. And by send, it’s really only taking a photo of it with your phone and emailing it through their system. Easy. The reimbursements can take 4-6 weeks though.

All worth it. YOU CAN GO TO ANY AMERICAN MEDICAL PROFESSIONAL. Including the best! No need to worry if they are in your group or system.

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.