Obamacare’s most significant effect is an expansion in the number of people dependent on Medicaid, the joint state-federal welfare program for low-income people. Kaiser Health News points out that this is threatening the existence of free clinics. Some are signing up for Medicaid, while others are closing.
It does not appear that access to care has changed for these patients — at least in the short term. However, the change in cash flow mean that the clinics are now more accountable to the federal government than private donors and local government. That will likely increase the bureaucratic burden and decrease quality of care in the long term.
Read the entire column at the Independent Institute's Beacon blog or NCPA's Health Policy Blog.
Research and commentary from a former senior executive in the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services
No comments:
Post a Comment