On April 16, 2024, The Floridian referenced Paragon’s Theo Merkel and Drew Gonshorowski’s Paragon Pic “Government’s Mandatory Health Care Spending Now Exceeds Entire Discretionary Budget.”
From the article:
In a recent Instagram post celebrating the 13th anniversary of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), aka Obamacare, former President Barack Obama praised the legislation for “cutting the uninsured rate in half and enshrining healthcare as an essential right, not a privilege.” Yet, beneath this surface-level politically charged rhetoric, the ACA has resulted in complex layers of unintended consequences that have placed substantial economic strains on America’s healthcare system.
Recent analyses by The Paragon Institute highlight a concerning trend: mandatory spending on health programs, influenced in part by the ACA, Medicare, and Medicaid, now exceeds federal discretionary spending. This shift is contributing to a projected national debt of $54 trillion over the next decade, reshuffling federal budget priorities. The ripple effects of these financial dynamics have led to increased premiums for some and strained patient-provider relationships, presenting complex challenges that extend beyond the ACA’s primary aim of enhancing affordable healthcare access.
