Dr. Michael Kirsch's Opinion piece on Tuesday opposing "Obamacare" ironically ran beside an editorial praising Gov. John Kasich for Medicaid enrollment reforms that are inspired by the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare's real name). Kasich's Office of Health Transformation is attempting to make other reforms consistent with the ACA as well, which would improve care and cut costs. Dr. Kirsch needs to do his homework.
He also makes two common errors probably because he never read the ACA. First, Medicaid fees to doctors are raised under the ACA. This happened due to the advocacy of groups like the American Medical Association, which supports the ACA. Second, the pre-existing condition parts of the ACA are directly tied to the so-called mandate. Without covering everyone, the cost of insurance for the already-sick -- an awful lot of us -- would be much higher.
His piece when compared to the June 3 op-ed he critiques also suffers from something else. While Drs. Arthur Lavin and Michael Devereaux focused on the benefit to their patients (and they represent hundreds of local doctors), Dr. Kirsch focused on misperceived harm to himself and his colleagues.
The ACA is good for consumers. Read these two op-eds and see for yourself.
Gary Benjamin Cleveland Heights