While Obamacare is a problem, it isn't the problem in this case.
It is true that Obamacare raised everyone's insurance premiums by forcing insurance companies to accept new customers with existing conditions while not being allowed to consider those conditions when it comes to billing. That forced everyone's premiums and deductibles to rise.
But in this case, premiums and deductibles aren't what we're discussing. You were billed 160-plus thousand dollars. That's what the hospital charged, and Obamacare had nothing to do with it. Rather, it's the understanding hospitals have with the insurance industry (not just Obamacare) that they can submit these enormous bills and they'll be paid without question, thereby allowing the insurance industry to pass the costs along to everyone in the country. Everyone in the chain benefits EXCEPT for the patients.
It's a conspiracy involving all the big pharmas, all the hospitals, and all the medical insurance companies.
Then, in a second conspiracy, you've got the malpractice lawyers and, once again, the insurance companies.
This is why The Affordable Care Act (aka, "Obamacare") was such a slap in the face. It did *NOTHING* to make hospital care more affordable. And it could have! It could have put ceilings on malpractice judgements. And it could have (though I'm not advocating it) put limits on what hospitals can bill for some of these treatments. Moreover, it could have introduced competition (in the form of medics) allowing people to obtain lower quality and cheaper medical care, if that's what they preferred.
But it would never happen. The insurance companies, hospitals, lawyers and politicians are all in bed with one another. The last thing they're interested in is lowering the cost of medical care. They want the costs to go UP - which they are, year by year, higher and higher, with no end in sight.
Gold is $1,581/oz today. When it hits $2,000, it will be up 26.5%. Let's see how long that takes. - De 3/11/2013 - ANSWER: 7 Years, 5 Months
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