Insurers tell Congress about 80-90% of their exchange customers are real paying customers. So out of the claimed 8.1 million enrollees, there may be something like 6.5 to 7.3 million with insurance. Which is a far cry from the 23 million (previously 30 million, before that 46 million) ♡bamaCare!!! was supposed to cover. Next year might prove tougher however:
With attention turning to the next open enrollment period, which starts in mid-November, lawmakers repeatedly asked the witnesses whether premiums would increase for 2015. Some insurers have said rates could rise by double-digit percentages in certain markets.
But the executives deflected the questions, saying it was too early to tell. Rates will be settled and submitted in coming weeks.
Insurers did raise several concerns, including the fees and taxes associated with Obamacare. The health insurance tax, set at $8 billion for 2014 and rising to $11.3 billion next year, increases the cost of premiums, said Mark Pratt, senior vice president at America’s Health Insurance Plans, the industry trade group.
Those costs will be passed onto you and me, of course.
And let’s not forget that insurance coverage — even if it did mean improved actual care — isn’t an unalloyed good. That is to say, all of these stories bragging about lower uninsured rates fail to take into account the lower growth, higher taxes, and worsened employment prospects created by ♡bamaCare!!!. The CBA on this monstrosity is way in the red.
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