President Obama writing in the online version of the Journal of the American Medical Association yesterday (here) opines that the Affordable Care Act is working, but does not go far enough in reforming our health care system.

He attributes the slowing of health care spending to Obamacare. Yet research shows that the slowing trend actually began in 2006, four years before the ACA became law. Over the past ten years the spending slow down was largely due to the Recession of 2008-2009. (here)

The President makes no mention of the fact he promised families that they would see a decrease in health insurance premiums of $2,500 per year with Obamacare. The reality is that families have experienced, on average, an increase premium cost of $3,775 per year. The non-partisan Congressional Budget Office originally placed a cost of the ACA at $940 billion over ten years. The CBO’s most recent estimate is now $1.7 trillion over ten years. The ACA has not held health care costs down.

He also is pleased with the uninsured rate. When Obamacare became law, 50 million Americans did not have health insurance for one reason or another. Under the ACA, 20 million people are newly insured, with a staggering 60 percent of the previously-uninsured still uninsured. And at least half on the newly-insured are in the Medicaid entitlement. Even though studies now show that Medicaid enrollees have no better clinical outcomes than being uninsured, the President wants to expand Medicaid further.

President Obama wants to double down on more government intervention by offering a public option to compete with private insurance companies. As we learned from the Medicare program, it is impossible to compete with the government. Within a few years of Medicare becoming law, private insurance for seniors, except for co-pays, disappeared.

The President also attacks the pharmaceutical industry and accuses drug companies of excessive pricing. He makes no mention of the 12 to 15 years and over $1 billion it takes to bring a drug to market. Research and development are critical to finding innovative drugs. Price controls, as suggested by the President, will discourage the critical work of discovering new life prolonging and life saving medicines.

It is no surprise that President Obama believes the ACA is working and needs to expand. The reality, however, is that costs for individuals, families and taxpayers are going up, provider access is going down because of the new narrower provider networks, millions of Americans are being forced into the sub-standard Medicaid insurance program and Medicare for seniors is at risk of insolvency.

In spite of the President's enthusiasm, the ACA is a complex, costly, highly regulatory and unpopular law. The 2016 election this November will be critical in deciding the direction of our health care system.