The Affordable Care Act may have increased the number of people with coverage, but cost, access and quality were not met — predictable with its complexity of rules and requirements hampering health care professionals.
As a physician, I see the problems with the numerous regulations and complex mandates that came with Obamacare. A 2016 study by the American Medical Association found that for every hour a doctor spends with a patient, he or she spends two hours doing paperwork, lowering the quality of care and time for patients. While Obamacare isn’t entirely to blame, itap a significant part of the problem. Moreover, Obamacare empowers the third-party payment system that has undermined the doctor-patient relationship for years.
Coverage does not equal access and government mandates hurt both doctors and patients. Most of us like to choose rather than be mandated what we get. Congress needs to immediately repeal Obamacare and then begin patient-centered health care reform.
Larry D. Tice, M.D., Grand Junction
Republicans, including Sen. Cory Gardner and Rep. Mike Coffman, keep repeating that our health care system is broken. I beg to differ. The reason the Affordable Care Act was created was to attempt to fix our health care system.
Before the ACA, insurance premiums kept rising, making it difficult, if not impossible, for many people without employer coverage to pay for health care. Pre-existing conditions were not covered, leaving many without lifesaving treatment. Adult children could not be covered by their parents’ policy until the age of 26, as is the case under the ACA. Emergency rooms bore the brunt of caring for those without insurance.
Now 22 million people who were uninsured prior to the ACA have access to affordable coverage. It may not be perfect, but it’s certainly better than before it was passed. So why not improve on what the ACA began, rather than scrapping it altogether?
Jeannie Dunham, Denver
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