Opinion

Obamacare’s Costly Illusion of Affordability: From Subsidies to Serfdom

The ACA obscures the true costs of health care. The government shutdown revealed just how much.
Obamacare’s Costly Illusion of Affordability: From Subsidies to Serfdom
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Richard Menger
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Commentary
Since the enactment of the Affordable Care Act (ACA)—former President Barack Obama’s health care law, known as Obamacare—health insurance premiums have steadily increased, as has health care’s proportion of the gross domestic product. In employer-sponsored insurance, escalating premiums are the primary driver for stagnant take-home wages.
Richard Menger
Richard Menger
Author
Richard P. Menger, MD, MPA, is an academic neurosurgeon and a graduate of the Harvard Kennedy School of Government. He is currently the chief of complex spine surgery at the University of South Alabama and the lead editor of the textbook “The Business, Policy, and Economics of Neurosurgery.”