A record 21 million new subscribers in Obamacare in 2023.
That broke the previous year’s record of 16 million new sign-ups, and almost double the number of 2020 sign-ups. New subscribers exceeded 750,000 on one day, December 15, 2023 – the deadline for sign-ups, which was another record breaker for the federally-subsided insurance plans established by Obamacare in healthcare marketplaces. If you substitute the word “voters” for “subscribers”, it suggests why most Republicans are no longer attacking Obamacare so loudly. According to the NY Times, “The figures were a landmark for the 2010 health law, underscoring the significance of enhanced subsidies for Americans and the reach of marketplaces after years of Republican efforts.”
The record number of sign-ups may be due in part to the increased federal subsidies for health care insurance extended to 2025 during the pandemic period. But the reality of this good news is tempered by the fact that that many of these new subscribers are people who were kicked off Medicaid insurance in the 10 states that rejected federal subsidies for Medicaid expansion and residents in other states where eligibility for Medicaid was narrowed by their state legislatures. Some reports put the number of residents who lost Medicaid coverage due to these reasons as close to 29 million. These figures clearly suggest that we are muddling, even stumbling, toward a national health care insurance system, albeit one based on a more-costly-than-Medicare private health insurance company platform (marketplaces have about 110 different plans as options!). Our percentage of uninsured hit a low of 7% in 2023, but that still represents about 25 million people.
Medicare Negotiations for Lower Drug Prices
Multiple pharmaceutical companies are asking courts to scuttle Biden’s administration’s empowerment of Medicare (Inflation Reduction Act of 2023) to negotiate prescription drug prices with big pharma. As a new deductible period for consumers starts with the new year, the costs of prescriptions drugs comes to front and center for the 70% of Americans who take at least one prescription medication. Our average prescription drug cost in 2021 was about $1,432 per person, 8% higher than the previous year , and the highest by far of any developed country (CivicScience.com).
The pharmaceutical companies agree that the facts in the cases are not in dispute and are asking summary judgements by judges on the constitutional authority of the federal government to require such negotiations. They are suing in multiple court districts in multiple states with the hopes of getting split decisions that will move the issue to the U.S. Supreme Court. It is probable that the Biden Administration will continue to push for the required negotiations for specific drugs as the individual court cases proceed (and prolong) for years. The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has listed the first 10 “negotiable drugs” which cost Medicare enrollees over $3.4 Billion out-of-pocket dollars in 2022. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce, as a trade group, has been joined by AARP in a counter-suit supporting the government’s position in the hope of getting a favorable court ruling that would apply to all pharmaceutical companies. If Biden is no longer the President in 2025, Medicare’s potential ability to negotiate prescription drug prices and reduce costs to subscribers will probably disappear.
HUB's LIST of medical fun facts 