text: Twenty million people have signed onto the ACA now and counting Mr. 55. That includes those who had pre-existing conditions and could not get insurance at any cost and those who made too much to qualify for Medicaid but too little to afford high health insurance premiums. The subsidies that enable them to afford health insurance are entirely paid for with a small tax on the capital gains of individuals making more than $250,000 or couples making more than $500,000/year. Those people got sick or were sick and showed up at the emergency rooms anyway 55. The costs were not eaten by the healthcare industry but were passed on to those individuals lucky enough to have jobs that gave them health insurance which is why your premiums have been going up every year since the '60's if not longer. For profit businesses do not eat the costs, they find a way to pass them on to you, the lowest rung on the profiteering ladder.