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The Gallop organization’s latest poll on the Affordable Care Act shows no improvement in US healthcare quality.
The Affordable Care Act (ACA) was supposed to lower the cost of care and improve the quality of it. So far, most of us are paying more, with higher out of pocket costs, while we get less for our healthcare dollar, no matter which way you spin it.
Most recently, United Healthcare voiced their lack of enthusiasm for their participation (even though it gave them many clients), despite many more people signing up. Perhaps, there has been pent up demand for healthcare services causing a spike in utilization, yet, many people are putting off needed care after paying for expensive plans with high deductibles.
The idea of high deductibles controlling costs is a bad one, since those who need the care and put it off are likely to be worse off when they finally use their coverage and in the end, expose how flawed this insurance company idea is.
Most people who were uninsured and are insuring with government supplements are probably happier than others who have seen their rates skyrocket, but overall, the actual quality of the care they receive has not improved.
Most doctors are now using electronic health records (EHR) which does improve recordkeeping but takes away from the patients visit, since most of these systems including our own are horribly designed and are not intuitive, so your doctor must spend even more time documenting than before. Most insurers will do their best to use these records against your doctor if they forget to write in something they charged for even though they performed the service, so this leaves doctors almost more worried about their record than you, the patient.
Recently, Gallop did a poll regarding the ACA which did not look great for the ACA or the current improvements in healthcare quality it would supposedly make.
Check it out here
Ratings of U.S. Healthcare Quality No Better After ACA
by Rebecca Riffkin
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
53% of Americans rate healthcare quality in U.S. positively
One in three rate U.S. healthcare coverage positively
Fewer than one in four satisfied with cost of healthcare
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Fifty-three percent of Americans rate the quality of healthcare in the U.S. as “excellent” or “good.” This is similar to what Gallup has found since 2013, but is down from the more positive ratings of 2008 to 2012.
From 2005 to 2007, a slim majority of Americans rated the quality of healthcare in the U.S. as excellent or good. But this percentage increased slightly in 2008 after President Barack Obama was elected, reaching a high of 62% in November 2010 and again in 2012 just after he was elected to his second term. Those higher ratings could reflect optimism about Obama’s promises to reform healthcare and the passage of the Affordable Care Act. However, since November 2013, shortly after the ACA insurance exchanges first opened, no more than 54% of Americans have rated the quality of healthcare in the U.S. as excellent or good.
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