Trending News Today: ACA Repeal Without Replacement Could Negatively Impact Consumers, Experts Say

The United States spends more on health care than any other country, but has poorer health outcomes, reported the Los Angeles Times. Data from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development revealed that the United States spent nearly 3 times the amount on health care compared with the average of other countries with similar incomes. Despite this, Italy and Britain spend at least $5000 less per person on health care than the United States, but the populations have higher life expectancies at birth. According to the LA Times, experts suggest there are 2 underlying reasons why the United States spends more on health care: it uses expensive medical technology, and prices for services and goods are higher compared with other countries.

Nearly half of Americans have diabetes or prediabetes, but many are unaware of their condition, reported the Los Angeles Times. The CDC recently released a report card on diabetes in the United States and revealed that 30.3 million Americans were living with diabetes in 2015—–equating to nearly 1 of 10 individuals. Furthermore, 7.2 million Americans with diabetes are unaware they have the disease. According to the LA Times, prediabetes is a condition characterized by elevated blood sugar that puts individuals at a high risk of type 2 diabetes. In the United States, 34% of individuals have prediabetes.

If Republicans repeal the Affordable Care Act (ACA) without a replacement, it would have an immediate impact on consumers, according to The New York Times. As insurers continue to exit state marketplaces across the country, buying individual health policies will become increasingly more challenging, individual experts claim. Furthermore, low-income individuals who qualified for expanded Medicaid expansion under the ACA might not see a difference for a year or 2, but federal funding for coverage would end and states will need to decide whether to keep able-bodied adults on the rolls, the NY Times reported.