Timely, considering some of the idiots who have surfaced...
Well, now that the topic of the ACA has become hot again, we are hearing stories of people who did not realize that the ACA and Obamacare was one and the same. So I feel that it is relevant to post this information here, because it is always good to be informed. These are not alternative facts.From an October 2013 FB blog post of mine:
Because I am tired of seeing and hearing uninformed and misinformed people talking, posting, etc. about Obamacare, and it has been almost constant, consider this a PSA. (Yes, I realize some people do not realize Obamacare and the Affordable Care Act are one and the same.)
I don't care what side you are on, just actually be informed. Know SOMETHING. Have an alternative plan in mind. Understand what is attempting to be done with regard to actual policy, besides "trample my rights by making everyone pay to have insurance and pay higher premiums."
This is the reading list from the 8 week online course Healthcare Policy and the Affordable Care Act through the University of Pennsylvania.
Growth in US Health Care Costs
 * Kaiser Foundation. Health Care Costs: A Primer (May 2012), available at http://www.kff.org/insurance/upload/7670-03.pdf  * CBO. Technological Change and the Growth of Health Care Spending (January 2008), available at http://www.cbo.gov/sites/default/files/cbofiles/ftpdocs/89xx/doc8947/01-31-techhealth.pdf
 * D. Cutler and M. McClellan. Is Technological Change In Medicine Worth It?, 20 Health Affairs 5 (September 2001), available at http://content.healthaffairs.org/content/20/5/11.full. Read the abstract and the policy implications.  * John Holahan & Stacey McMorrow. Medicare and Medicaid Spending Trends and the Deficit Debate, New England Journal of Medicine (August 2, 2012). available at http://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMp1204899.
 * McKinsey Global Institute. Accounting for the cost of US health care: A New Look at Why Americans Spend More (2008). Download and read the Executive Summary at http://www.mckinsey.com/insights/mgi/research/americas /accountingforthecostofushealth_care.  * Mark Pauly, The Truth about Moral Hazard and Adverse Selection (2007), available at http://www.maxwell.syr.edu/uploadedFiles/cpr/publications/pb36.pdf. Read pages 1-16. This explains some of the economic rationale behind the parts of our health insurance system that make it so costly.
Structure of the US Health Care System
 * Nauman, T. Medicare 101. KaiserEDU. http://www.kaiseredu.org/Tutorials-and-Presentations/Medicare-the-Basics.aspx
 * Rudowitz, R. Medicaid 101. KaiserEDU. http://www.kaiseredu.org/Tutorials-and-Presentations/Medicaid-101.aspx  * Pollitz, K. Private Health Insurance. KaiserEDU. http://www.kaiseredu.org/Tutorials-and-Presentations/Private-Health-Insurance.aspx
Access to and Quality of Health Care Access
 * Kaiser Foundation. The Uninsured: A Primer (December 2010), available at http://www.kff.org/uninsured/upload/7451-06.pdf. Read pages 1-13.
 * Kaiser Foundation. Medicare: A Primer (April 2010) available at http://www.kff.org/medicare/upload/7615-03.pdf. Read pages 1-7; 13-14.
 * Kaiser Foundation. Medicaid: A Primer (June 2010), available at http://www.kff.org/medicaid/upload/7334-04.pdf. Read pages 1-4, 7-12.
Quality
 * Elizabeth Docteur & Robert Berenson, How Does the Quality of US Health Care Compare Internationally?, The Urban Institute (August 2009), available at http://www.urban.org/uploadedpdf/411947ushealthcarequality.pdf
 * GapMinder World (2012). Find the US on the following graphs by hovering over the circles and compare its performance to other OECD countries (in light green): infant mortality (www.bit.ly/Kpa1h3), life expectancy (www.bit.ly/MSsLuR). Play with the indicators that interest you.
 * Frederic Blavin et al. Uninsurance is Not Just a Minority Issue: White Americans are a Large Share of the Growth from 2000 to 2010, The Urban Institute, (November 2010), available at http://www.urban.org/UploadedPDF/412698-Uninsurance-Is-Not-Just-a-Minority.pdf.
 * Kyle J. Caswell et al. The Financial Burden of Medical Spending Among the Non-Elderly, 2010, The Urban Institute (November 2012), available at http://www.urban.org/UploadedPDF/412696-The-Financial-Burden-of-Medical-Spending-Among-the-Non-Elder...
 * Bryon Auguste et al. How Health Care Costs Contribute to Income Disparity in the United States, McKinsey Global Institute (March 2009), available at http://www.mckinseyquarterly.com/EconomicStudies/CountryReports/HowhealthcarecostscontributetoincomedisparityintheUnitedStates2328?gp=1#. Register for free access, then click download PDF.
 * Linda Kohn et al., To Err Is Human: Building a Safer Health System, Institute of Medicine (2000), available at http://www.nap.edu/openbook.php?record_id=9728&page=1. Read the executive summary, pages 1-15.
Health Care Malpractice
 * Michelle Mello, Understanding medical malpractice insurance: A primer, RWJ Foundation (January 2006), available at http://www.rwjf.org/content/dam/farm/reports/reports/2006/rwjf17974.  Read pages 1-7.
 * Letter from CBO to Senator Orrin Hatch regarding CGOâs Analysis of the Effects of Proposals to Limit Costs Related to Medical Malpractice (October 9, 2009), available at http://www.cbo.gov/sites/default/files/cbofiles/ftpdocs/106xx/doc10641/10-09-tort_reform.pdf
 * Michelle Mello & A. Chandra. The Cap Doesnât Fit, New York Times (July 9, 2009), http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/12/opinion/12mello.html?_r=1
 * Kevin Sack, Doctors Say âIâm Sorryâ Before âSee You in Courtâ, New York Times (May 18, 2008), available at http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/18/us/18apology.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0
 * University of Michigan Health System, The Michigan Model: Medical Malpractice and Patient Safety at UMHS, available at http://www.uofmhealth.org/michigan-model-medical-malpractice-and-patient-safety-umhshttp://www.uofmh Review the summary and any articles you find interesting.
 * Jonathan Welch, As She Lay Dying, 31 Health Affairs 12 (January 2013), available at http://content.healthaffairs.org/content/31/12/2817.full.pdf
History of health care reform; The ACA: An Overview
 * Kaiser Foundation. National Health InsuranceâA Brief History of Reform Efforts in the US (March 2009), available at http://www.kff.org/healthreform/upload/7871.pdf
 * CBO, Key Issues in Analyzing Major Health Insurance Proposals (2008), available at http://www.cbo.gov/sites/default/files/cbofiles/ftpdocs/99xx/doc9924/12-18-keyissues.pdf.  Read the sections on insurance premiums and choice of plans, pages 59-99.
 * Elisabeth Goodridge & Sarah Arnquist. A History of Overhauling Health Care, New York Times (March 21, 2010), available at http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2009/07/19/us/politics/20090717HEALTHLINE.html. Browse for interest
 * C. Mery et al., The modern history of US health care reform, American College of Surgeons (2010), available at http://www.facs.org/fellows_info/bulletin/2010/mery0710.pdf. Read for specific policy interests.
The ACA: Access to Health Care
 * Kaiser Foundation, Summary of New Health Reform Law (April 15, 2011), available at http://www.kff.org/healthreform/upload/8061.pdf
 * Department of Health and Human Services, Whatâs Changing and When (2012), available at http://www.healthcare.gov/law/timeline/. Browse.
 * Kaiser Foundation (2010). âExplaining Health Care Reform: Questions About Health Insurance Subsidies.â http://www.kff.org/healthreform/upload/7962-02.pdf
 * Use the Massachusetts Health Connector to âbuyâ insurance. https://www.mahealthconnector.org/portal/site/connector/ . (Use zip code 02138 and choose the plan you think would be best for you. When you get to the message that âEnrollment is closedâ, click âBrowse Nowâ under the heading âJust window shopping?â Note the monthly cost and what is covered, deductible, copay amount, etc.)
 * Genevieve M. Kenney et al., Opting Out of the Medicaid Expansion under the ACA: How Many Uninsured Adults would Not be Eligible for Medicaid? Urban Institute (July 5, 2012), available at http://www.urban.org/UploadedPDF/412607-Opting-Out-of-the-Medicaid-Expansion-Under-the-ACA.pdf
 * Genevieve M. Kenney et al., Opting In to the Medicaid Expansion under the ACA: Who are the Uninsured Adults Who Could Gain Health Insurance Coverage?, Urban Institute (August 2012), available at http://www.urban.org/UploadedPDF/412630-opting-in-medicaid.pdf
The ACA: Cost Control
 * Peter Orszag and Ezekiel Emanuel, Health Care Reform and Cost Control, 363 New England Journal of Medicine 7 (2010), available at http://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMp1006571
 * Jonathan Gruber, The House Proposal Lowers Non-Group Premiums, (Nov. 2, 2009), available at http://www.healthpolicyproject.org/Publications_files/Business/2010/GruberHousenongroup11-2-1.pdf
 * J. Gruber, The Impacts of the Affordable Care Act: How Reasonable Are the Projections?, NBER Working Paper #17168 (2011), available at http://economics.mit.edu/files/6829. Read pages 13-20, focusing on content rather than technical details.
 * Stephen Zuckerman & John Holahan, Despite Criticisms, The Affordable Care Act Does Much to Contain Health Care Costs (October 2012) available at http://www.urban.org/UploadedPDF/412665-Despite-Criticism-The-Affordable-Care-Act-Does-Much-to-Conta...
 * Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, The Affordable Care Act: Lowering Medicare Costs by Improving Care (2012), available at http://www.cms.gov/apps/files/ACA-savings-report-2012.pdf.
 * Scott Harrington, The Health Insurance Reform Debate (November 24, 2009), available at https://hcmg.wharton.upenn.edu/files/?whdmsaction=public:main.file&fileID=1594. Read for a dissenting view on the cost impacts of the ACA
 * Letter to Senator Bayh from the CBO regarding An Analysis of Health Insurance Premiums Under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (November 30, 2009). Download the full text in PDF format at http://www.cbo.gov/ftpdocs/107xx/doc10781/11-30-Premiums.pdf
The ACA: Health Care Delivery and Quality
 * H. Komisar et al., âBundlingâ Payment for Episodes of Hospital Care, Center for American Progress (July 2011), available at http://www.scribd.com/doc/60255022/%E2%80%9CBundling%E2%80%9D-Payment-for-Episodes-of-Hospital-Care.  Read pages 1-10.
 * Stuckhardt, Leigh, IOM Roundtable on Value & Science-Driven Health Care. âACA Provisions With Implications For A Learning Healthcare System.â Institute of Medicine of the National Academies of Sciences. http://iom.edu/~/media/Files/Activity%20Files/Quality/VSRT/summary%20of%20ACA%20impact%20on%20the%20...
 * J. Gruber, The Impacts of the Affordable Care Act: How Reasonable Are the Projections?, New England Bureau of Economic Research Working Paper #17168 (2011), http://economics.mit.edu/files/6829. Read section II.B on pages 4-7.
 * McKinsey & Company. Cross-currents in the health economy. http://healthreform.mckinsey.com/insights/latestthinking/crosscurrentsinthehealtheconomy. Download the full report on the bottom of the page and read pages 1-9.
 * Jerry Cacciotti & Mark Mozeson, How ACA Could Transform the US Pharmaceutical Marketplace, Oliver Wyman, available at http://www.oliverwyman.com/media/ACAandthePharmaMarketplace.pdf.
