Now that ObamaCare is “the law of the land” for the foreseeable future, as House Speaker Ryan grimly conceded after the failure of RyanCare, a new situation is upon us.  The time is past for comparing ObamaCare to what preceded it. .  This sort of comparison has been done with fulsome praise of Obama’s health care concoction by all too many progressives; the result has been that the real shortcomings of ObamaCare were hidden or played down.  But now with RyanCare lying in ruins, the GOP-hatched health plans are not the problem nor is the problem what went before ObamaCare.  ObamaCare is now the problem, and it is important to recognize what a big problem it is – if we are to realize the potential of this moment for Single Payer as Ralph Nader and others suggest we might.  So just how bad is ObamaCare?

Just How Bad is ObamaCare?

To answer that let us turn to one of the daily columns of the Senior Policy Fellow of Physicians For a National Health Program (PNHP), Dr. Don McCanne, columns that he labels modestly “Quote of the Day”.  These columns, each of which tersely summarizes and dissects a single article from the all too voluminous health care literature, are a must read for those interested in health care policy.  In one of his columns, Dr. McCanne spells out where we stand under ObamaCare.  I call it the Column of the “Only’s”.   McCanne writes:

“…Where do we stand today (under ObamaCare, jw).

Last year:

* ONLY 63 million adults say they went without health care or medication they needed because of the cost

* ONLY 25 percent of adults buying plans on their own say they found it difficult or impossible to find a plan that fit their needs

* ONLY 31 percent of adults with health problems say it was difficult or impossible to find a plan that fits their needs

* ONLY 26 percent of adults with low incomes and health problems say it was difficult or impossible to find a plan that fits their needs

* ONLY 20 percent of adults say they did not go to a doctor when they were sick because of the cost

* ONLY 19 percent of adults say they did not fill a prescription because of the cost

* ONLY 18 percent of adults reported they had skipped a recommended test, treatment, or follow-up visit because of the cost

* ONLY 70 million adults said they had problems paying medical bills in the past 12 months or were paying off medical bills over time

* ONLY 46 million adults are currently paying off medical debt over time (unchanged from 2012)”