With or Without Obamacare, Health-Care Costs Are Battering the Middle Class

Whatever happens to Obamacare in Washington, the rest of America will be left with a problem it’s had for decades: Health-care spending is growing at an unsustainable rate. Insurance and medical costs are draining the incomes of the middle class—tens of millions of people who earn too much to qualify for government-subsidized coverage, but not so much that they don’t feel the bite of medical bills—and nothing on Congress’s agenda is likely to fix that.

So far, rather than tackle the health-care delivery system directly, Republican policymakers have focused on slashing insurance subsidies and Medicaid, the state and federal program for the poor. The Obamacare replacement proposed by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell would leave 15 million more uninsured next year and 22 million by 2026, according to the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office, and allow insurers to sell policies that cover fewer benefits and pay for less medical care. Although the chamber narrowly voted to open debate on health legislation on July 25, almost all the proposals making their way to the floor focus squarely on mandates and spending rather than delivery of care.