Cost Shifting Does Not Justify Obamacare

Cost Shifting Does Not Justify Obamacare

A major justification by President Obama for the individual mandate in the Affordable Care Act, which requires everyone to buy health insurance, is that every time an uninsured patient receives care in an emergency room, doctors and hospitals shift the cost to those of us who have insurance. But the impact of such cost shifting is vastly overblown and government, through the legislation, makes the problem worse, not better.

As a general surgeon in private practice for over 30 years, I have lost track of how many times I have performed emergency surgery on uninsured patients who never paid their bills....