Healthcare Costs Will Escalate if SCOTUS Rules Against Obamacare

Many people are anxiously awaiting the decision of the Supreme Court over the King v. Burwell case that will be determined in June. If the Court rules against the implementation of federal subsidies for Obamacare, millions of Americans will lose their health insurance, premiums will drastically increase, and hospitals will need to absorb higher costs for an increase in uncompensated care.

The Urban Institute released a study that analyzed what might possibly happen if the Supreme Court deems millions of Obamacare enrollees ineligible for federal subsidies. Researchers estimate that 8.2 million people would lose their health insurance, including the 6 million who would no longer have access to federal subsidies, 445,000 enrollees in the Children's Health Insurance Program, and 300,000 in employer-based plans. Due to the massive amount of people losing their insurance, the price of premiums will surge, causing another 1.2 million Obamacare enrollees to drop their healthcare plans. It is also expected that these 8.2 million people will spend $27.1 billion on healthcare next year, but if they lose their coverage, that number will decrease to $5.3 billion. Furthermore, hospitals would absorb $12 million in uncompensated care from the loss of covered patients, mostly due to emergency room visits from uninsured individuals. Last fall, the Obama administration estimated that the healthcare law would save hospitals $5.7 billion in uncompensated care for 2014.

Summary by MedicalGroups.com

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