Healthcare vs. Health Insurance (Video)

Healthcare
January 30, 2017

As the battle over healthcare heats up, let’s separate some fact from fiction about what it means for South Carolinians.

South Carolina needs a healthcare system worthy of the citizens who will use it. Now that Donald Trump is officially President, will he make good on his promise to repeal and replace Obamacare giving South Carolina access to better healthcare?

As the battle begins let’s separate some fact from fiction.

Fact: there is a difference between healthcare and health insurance. Under Obamacare both are out of reach.

While proponents of the ACA claim access to healthcare is at stake if ObamaCare is repealed, truthfully, for families who have seen their premium, deductible, and co-payments rise astronomically, it is precisely because of ObamaCare that they have been functionally barred from quality healthcare

Yes, more people today have health insurance than before the ACA was passed but, seriously, what good is insurance – the supposed gateway to care – if prices are so high? ObamaCare is precisely the reason insurance is so expensive for so many South Carolinians.

Fact: The Charleston Post and Courier reports that South Carolina premiums are, on average, 29% higher in 2017 than they were in 2016 and that does not consider the premium increases of years passed. On an individual basis, a lot of families are suffering under the added pressure of higher healthcare bills despite political promises to the contrary. The middle class cost crunch isn’t just theoretical: it’s a mortgage payment, a car payment, a meal on the table.