Monterey, CA Is Obama's Affordable Care Act Working?

by Richard Kuehn on 01/07/13

View From A Non-Profit Serving Carmel, Carmel Valley, Gonzalez, Greenfield, King City, Marina, Monterey, Pacific Grove, Pebble Beach, Salinas, Seaside And Soledad California There is good news (for a change) on the health care front.  The Obama administration announced today that national health care spending was $2.7 trillion in 2011, an average of $8,700 per person.  As a percent of the economy, it was the same as 2010, very good news.  The number was up 3.9% in 2011, similar to 2009 and 2010 growth rates which are the lowest annual increases in the 52 years that the government has been collecting the data.  Historically, health care costs have grown 5% per year, and there have been many years of double digit growth.  Many officials in the administration and industry analysts had worried that the 2009 and 2010 growth rates were low because during the recession people weren't going to the Doctor as much because they couldn't afford co-pays.  They feared that once the recovery set in, these numbers would leap dramatically.  Although the economy isn't growing like gangbusters, it is growing and the data shows that these theories might be wrong.  In short, the so-called Obama-care (the Affordable Care Act, which was passed in 2010) might be working. 

 

 

 

Please note that this blog reflects my personal opinion and may or may not reflect the opinion of Hands To Help Seniors and the individual members comprising the Board of Governors.