P.J. Cook: Obamacare is turning into rationed care
Re “Urgent need for primary care” (Page A1, April 12): Thank you for daring to shed light on the adverse impacts of the Affordable Care Act. The article clearly highlights the fact that having health insurance doesn’t mean you have access to healthcare. The article did fail to mention the unprecedented numbers of physicians leaving medicine as a result of the Affordable Care Act and the severe nursing shortage in the San Joaquin Valley.
If President Obama and Congress were actually interested in providing universal healthcare for Americans, they would have first implemented a plan to increase the healthcare system capacity before overwhelming the system with millions of new people. According to the California Hospital Association, Emergency Room visits are up 20 to 30 percent across the state because an increasing number of people are using the ER in place of primary care. The results have been inundated ERs, extended wait times, and increased costs.
The opponents of the Affordable Care Act predicted rationed healthcare, recent trends appear to support this position.
P.J. Cook, Modesto
This story was originally published April 13, 2015 at 7:02 PM with the headline "P.J. Cook: Obamacare is turning into rationed care."