The Outlook For “Obamacare” In Two Maps

Tracy Weber and Charles Ornstein | ProPublica | November 8, 2012

It wasn’t just President Barack Obama who won Tuesday. His signature health care plan did as well. But while the Affordable Care Act remains alive, less clear is how its various mandates will proceed and who will participate.

To a large extent, the success of the health overhaul lies in how many of the nation’s uninsured get coverage. And that is largely in the hands of the states, which have been all over the map in their willingness to cooperate.

We mean that literally. The maps here show the lack of consensus on two key parts of the act: Creating insurance exchanges and expanding Medicaid.

Here’s why each map matters...

Comments

Some truths about healthcare transformation & legislation

To a large extent, the immediate success of the overhaul of America's healthcare system lies in how many of the nation’s uninsured get coverage - and that is largely in the hands of the states. Long term, there are some major technological innovations taking place related to telehealth, EHR systems, PHR systems, HIE networks, genomics, mobile apps, regenerative medicine ... that will have a much more substantial effect on healthcare in America than the legislation and policy changes political parties are obsessing over. I think many politicians really have no clue about the transformation that is taking place right under their noses. Check out some of these emerging Health information technologies & solutions at http://sites.google.com/site/cosihealthit/home/emerging-hit