Healthcare

Our healthcare system is deeply flawed and in need of reform. Over the last decade, quality of care has decreased, and insurance premiums have doubled, in some cases tripled. This is largely a result of the failures of Obamacare, formally known as the Affordable Care Act (ACA).

Initially promised to be a groundbreaking reform aimed at providing affordable care for all, the ACA has failed to live up to its expectation. Instead of a decrease in healthcare costs, Americans have experienced a sharp increase in insurance premiums, placing a burden on middle- and working-class families, many of whom are already struggling with rising costs.

Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics

Perverse incentives have made the insurance industry less competitive, less transparent, of lower quality, and more expensive. Before the ACA, health insurers were incentivized to manage costs because the difference between health insurance premiums and the claims paid to healthcare providers was their profit. After the ACA, insurance companies’ profits were capped and calculated as a percentage of healthcare spending; therefore, the only way to increase profits was to increase overall healthcare spending.

Many people, including those with preexisting conditions like myself, saw their drug prices skyrocket. Sadly, many are still forced to decide every month between the drugs they need to survive and basic necessities.

Democrats’ failed promises have cost Americans immensely. The promise of expanded healthcare options has resulted in fewer choices and limited coverage. Americans spend the most of any developed country on healthcare, despite the quality of care decreasing over time.

DC politicians have spent years talking about this issue, and yet they have done nothing about it. After being diagnosed with multiple sclerosis (MS) in the 1990s, I understand how the failures of our healthcare system affect my fellow Wisconsinites every day. I have lived it. It’s time to reform our healthcare so that it works for all Americans.