Carly Fiorina Says Obamacare ‘Isn’t Helping Anyone,’ But The Numbers Tell A Different Story

Fiorina dismissed the health coverage expansion under Obamacare because the majority of newly covered people have benefits under Medicaid rather than private health insurance, which she suggested is not worthwhile because physicians don’t accept Medicaid patients. And while physicians are more likelyto see patients with private insurance or Medicare, 75 percent of Medicaid beneficiaries told Gallup they were satisfied with their coverage, a higher rating than given by people with health plans provided by employers or unions.

“We need to try the free market — the free market where people actually have to compete,” Fiorina said. In place of the Affordable Care Act’s Medicaid expansion and health insurance marketplaces where carriers compete for customers who may be eligible for subsidies — with its strict prohibition against insurers turning away customers with pre-existing conditions — Fiorina touted state-run programs to provide coverage to people who couldn’t get approved for private insurance because of their medical histories.

“The alternative is to allow states to manage high-risk pools for those who really need help. Look, I’m a cancer survivor, OK? I understand you cannot have someone who’s just battled cancer just become known as a pre-existing condition. I understand that you cannot allow families to go bankrupt if they truly need help,” Fiorina said.

Such programs have existed for years, and have failed to provide a stable, affordable source of coverage for people with pre-existing conditions, largely because they are underfunded. Providing health coverage for the most costly patients is expensive, and states have never devoted the resources necessary to make these high-risk pools work, leading to high premiums, long waiting lists and other shortcomings.

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