Those must be Glen Beck numbers. Actually as of last year the number is 17 million people who got coverage under the new system:
The numbers I cited were (from memory) from an article I read from the NY Times. Basically said something like 38 million were without insurance pre-Ocare and now there are 35 million without. Truthfully, I may be 'misremembering' and the original number may have been 48 million. I think the 17 million is total number of enrolled in Ocare but does not account for those who had insurance prior to the bill's passage, lost it and then signed up for the ACA. From the article I read, more than half of the newly insured are insured through employer plans, i.e., the economy has recovered enough for folks to find jobs that pay for coverage. Not sure how Ocare can take credit for that but whatever. More than half of the remainder are due to expansion of Medicaid. So, about 3 million have signed up for ACA outside of their employer plans and Medicaid. I did see a Rand study that 87% of the people insured through the exchanges receive some financial assistance.
But, regardless of what the numbers are, I'll grant you that there are fewer people uninsured than before. The problem is there are still 30-35 million uninsured and OCare has already exceeded its projected costs. More than half the government exchanges have filed bankruptcy and more are expected to do so this year if things continue as they are. With many insurers involved in the exchanges losing hundreds of millions of dollars, I just don't see how the system, as is, can survive. I've also seen studies that indicate emergency room usage is UP since the passage of ACA. Another problem cited by its supporters that has not been solved by ACA.
For the record, I never watch Glen Beck or Fox News. Beck is an idiot and Fox News (their personalities, anyway) are annoying. Bret Baier and a few straight up news journalists are OK as far as I'm concerned. I just don't watch TV news.
