Texas State talks about ObamaCare

Texas State is hosting a panel discussion to examine the Affordable Care Act, also known as ObamaCare. The panelists include Mary Ann Roser, medical writer for the Austin American-Statesman; Dr. Michael Nowicki professor at Texas State’s College of Health Professions and many more. Dr. Michael Nowicki breaks down the three main issues this country has faced with our healthcare.

“As so as it relates to the act itself, I think the act is a comprehensive healthcare reform that we have been needing for probably a couple of decades. It attempts to address the three big problems that we have in healthcare. The biggest problem is access, we have 48 million Americans uninsured. The second big problem is cost, healthcare costs are getting to the point where they’re unaffordable. And the third major problem is quality, there is a real great variability between hospitals and doctors in terms of the quality they’re providing.”
– Dr. Michael Nowicki

There are alot of provisions in the law to prevent escalation in healthcare spending to where it was in the past. Dr. Nowicki  explains the short term effect this act will have on healthcare.

“Well, short term I think healthcare costs will go up. I mean we’re projecting Medicaid costs to go up about 17% next year, so in the short term as you offer insurance coverage to people that haven’t had insurance coverage in the past, they’ll use that insurance coverage for alot of things they have been delaying. We expect healthcare spending to go up 7.5 – 8% next year overall, and Medicaid spending to go up more than that,” says Dr. Nowicki.

The panel discussion is opened to the public and will be held tonight 7 PM in room 119 of McCoy Hall on campus.

Sierra King, KTSW News