Regarding the ACA, I don't think the costliest increase was the elimination of pre-existing conditions...because if the plans are affordable, many people will buy them and not have pre-existing conditions. But the elimination of the individual mandate ensured that the population on ACA plans were sicker and costlier individuals. If everyone was required to have a plan, the costs would be spread over more plans with healthier/younger people.
I know some people will say that the healthy are subsiding the unhealthy. While this may be true, none of us really knows when we may go from being healthy to not as healthy.
So much of the total medical spend in this country is for people in the final year of life. So no matter what, we all pay for that.
As for Florida, I believe that there is a math problem which manifests itself in several ways, and one of them is health care. There are so many people moving here and the growth has been so fast that medical care can't keep up with population growth. The same percentage of physicians would have to be moving here as the rest of the population, but I don't think physicians are as likely to give up a job or location they have been in as the rest of the population so this is one of several areas FL has to play catch up.
I am stating my opinion, not claiming to know it all or stating hard facts or statistics. As always and as my wife will happily verify, I could be wrong.
|