Obamacare is working
The Rochester Democrat and Chronicle: Republicans in Congress and their presidential candidates can deny the truth all they want, but average Americans are being helped by “Obamacare,” as Republicans deridingly call it.
The latest evidence is that two million senior citizens and disabled people paid less this year for prescription drug costs. New Medicare figures show that closing the so-called “doughnut hole” in prescription drug coverage is having an impact.
The average beneficiary who encountered the coverage gap paid about $600 less than he would have without the discounts from drug companies secured under the Affordable Care Act. That’s no small change.
The evidence keeps mounting that more people will benefit from health care reform when states institute exchanges in 2014, which will act as a marketplace to help individuals and small businesses find affordable insurance. Nationally, the number of uninsured, non-senior adults grew to 24 percent in 2010. In Monroe County, that number has grown to 10.6 percent.
Bridge plan
No doubt the number of uninsured locally would be higher, if not for other provisions of reform that have already kicked in, such as a bridge plan that offers affordable insurance, and a provision that lets young adults stay on their parents’ plans to age 26.