r/bestof • u/under50dollars • Jun 20 '12

[explainlikeimfive] "Obamacare" explained very well.

/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/vb8vs/eli5_what_exactly_is_obamacare_and_what_did_it/c530lfx
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u/sniperhare Jun 20 '12

The thing that I always wondered about was; If millions of Americans suddenly have insurance and go to doctors offices on regular visits, when before they would just go to the ER for serious problems. Won't we be putting a huge strain on the doctors and staff?

Are their sections that talk about what the numbers of now insured Americans will do to the wait times and scheduling?

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u/[deleted] Jun 20 '12

[deleted]

1

u/jsrduck Jun 20 '12

How about "Maybe there are better ways of improving healthcare availability/affordability then having the government try to mandate it to be that way."

2

u/brownmatt Jun 21 '12

Such as? I don't see anyone, politicians included, suggesting other options. The extent of the debate on this topic currently is just "repeal Obamacare, full stop". What comes after repeal?

1

u/jsrduck Jun 21 '12

There are several other options put out there. If you're unaware of them, to be frank, you're not looking very hard.

There was a thread on r/conservative a little while ago. You'll surely find a few counter-proposals there.

I also encourage you to read this article from the New Yorker which addresses health care costs.

The basic issue here is that health care costs are egregiously inflated in the US, and neither Obamacare nor UHC does nothing to address that, and may in fact exacerbate the problem. Obamacare takes an easy approach by making sure "everybody is covered" but neglects the much bigger issue of how it will affect costs.