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Prevention prevents disasters but it is also cheaper
#1
Quote:The goal of preventive care is to help people stay healthy. The idea is to nip diseases in the bud, before they become catastrophic. That keeps costs healthcare costs low. It also keeps people productive, enabling them to keep earning well into their senior years. Most people don't realize that healthcare costs are the number one cause of bankruptcy. They also don't know that 46% of retired people were forced into it before they were ready because of healthcare problems

How Obamacare Supports Preventive Care

The Affordable Care Act requires all health insurance plans to provide preventive care at no cost. How? First, it requires insurance companies, Medicare, and Medicaid to provide preventive care services for free. That's right, all 50 procedures recommended by the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force have no copay. Obamacare requires that they be included as part of the ten essential benefits.

These specific services include:
  • Maternity and Newborn Care - This is considered preventive care because it's cheaper to provide good nutrition and alcohol/drug counseling for the mother than treat premature births and fetal alcohol syndrome. These include well-woman visits, domestic violence screening, and support for breastfeeding equipment and contraception. For more, see Preventive Care Provision.
  • Mental and Behavioral Health Treatment - More than 40% of the 610,000 homeless in America have untreated mental and behavioral health problems. Left untreated, they cost society more from emergency rooms, police action, and jails. For example, a homeless person is in the hospital four days longer per visit than normal, costing taxpayers an extra $2,414 per visit. When they wind up in jail, they cost taxpayers $14,480 a year just for overnight stays.  (Source: “The State of Homelessness in America 2014,” National Alliance to End Homelessness.)
  • Services and devices to help people with injuries, disabilities, or chronic conditions - Most plans cover services and equipment to help you recover from temporary injuries, like a broken leg. The ACA requires coverage for goods and services to help you maintain a standard of living if you contract a chronic disease, like multiple sclerosis.
  • Lab tests - These must be covered 100% if diagnostic as they are considered preventive. If you've already been diagnosed with a disease, your regular copays and deductibles will apply.
  • Pediatric care - Dental and vision care must be covered.
  • Prescription drugs - All plans listed on the exchanges will include coverage of at least one drug in every category in the U.S. Pharmacopeia. Whatever you pay out-of-pocket for drugs will also count toward your deductible, which is not true for all insurance plans prior to the ACA. They also usually offered this at a cost. 
The ACA Preventive Care Mandate Lowers Healthcare Costs

This 
Obamacare mandate helps lower healthcare costs in America by preventing diseases before they require emergency room care. Why is this a problem? Hospital care is very expensive, making up one-third of all healthcare costs in America. The number of emergency room visits is increasing, from 115 million in 2005 to 136 million in 2011. A surprising one out of every five adults went to the emergency room last year. These hospitalization costs are one reason that health care is the #1 cause of bankruptcy. (Source:Fact Sheet, National Center for Health Statistics, July 2014;  “Fact Sheet,” National Center for Health Statistics, February 2014.).

One reason is that a lot of them use the emergency room as their primary care physician. Nearly half of them (46.3%) went because they really had no other place to go for healthcare. That's especially true for the uninsured. The cost of emergency room care for the uninsured is a staggering $10 billion a year. This cost gets shifted to your health insurance premiums and to Medicaid. (Source: “Emergency Room Use Among Adults Aged 18–64: Early Release of Estimates From the National Health Interview Survey, January-June 2011,” CDC, May 2012;“The Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act (EMTALA): What It Is and What It Means for Physicians,” National Institute of Health, October 2001.)

The other half went because their doctor sent them. Sadly, the four leading causes of death -- heart disease, cancer, COPD, and stroke -- are caused by totally preventable chronic diseases. Heart disease and strokes are primarily caused by poor nutrition and obesity, while lung cancer (the most common type) and COPD are primarily caused by smoking. Obesity is also a risk factor for the other common forms of cancer. (Sources: “Smoking and Lung Cancer,” “Under Health Law, Colonoscopies Are Free,” Kaiser Health News, April 25, 2011.“Smoking and COPD,” Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)

Even before they reach emergency room status, these chronic diseases are expensive to treat. Half of adult Americans have a chronic illness, but they are responsible for 85% of healthcare costs. They cost an extra $7,900 each, five times more than a healthy person. Many patients get tired of taking so many medications, or can’t afford it. When they cut back, they wind up in the emergency room with heart attacks, strokes, and other complications. (Source: “The Impact of Chronic Diseases on Healthcare,” For a Healthier America, 2014.) 
Preventive Care: How It Lowers ACA Costs
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#2
Turns out, prevention works, even after a couple of years of the ACA..

Quote:There was a slight increase in early-stage cancer diagnoses after the Affordable Care Act, often called "Obamacare," went into effect in January 2014. More than 20 million Americans were able to get insurance because of various ACA provisions in the years that followed its introductions, which might have led to more people getting screened for cancer. Comparing data from 2013 and 2014, the study, which will be presented at the upcoming American Society of Clinical Oncology meeting in June, the researchers from the American Cancer Society looked at the data from 273,000 patients, and focused on cancers that can be detected through screening.
Early cancer diagnoses increase under Obamacare ACA - Business Insider

And then we have this guy..

Quote:Rep. Raul Labrador (R-Idaho) drew intense jeers at a town hall Friday when he defended the GOP’s ObamaCare repeal plan by claiming nobody dies due to lack of access to health care.
One day after the House passed the American Health Care Act, Labrador faced off with constituents at a town hall at Lewis-Clark State College in Lewiston, Idaho, according to the Idaho Statesman.. Labrador was similarly criticized at another town hall last month, when he said healthcare is not a "basic human right.".
GOP rep: ‘Nobody dies because they don’t have access to healthcare’ | TheHill
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