Your ♡bamaCare!!! Fail of the Day

Shikha Dalmia says that despite claims of success from the left, “ObamaCare is sputtering.” Here’s why:

There are many reasons: One is that insurers are anticipating the cost of having to absorb pricey drug therapies such as Sovaldi, a new generation cure for Hepatitis C. There is also pent-up demand from the years of economic downturn when people were foregoing care because they couldn’t afford the co-pays and deductibles.

But the biggest culprit by far that companies cite is that the exchange population is weighted too heavily toward riskier and older patients with multiple chronic conditions than what is needed to hold rates steady. Washington Examiner’s Philip Klein reports that carriers needed 40 percent of their enrollees from the crucial 18-to-34 demographic, but they have only 28 percent.

What’s more, these hikes are likely just a prelude to far bigger ones in future years. Why? Because two programs — risk corridor and reinsurance — that were meant to “stabilize” rates in ObamaCare’s first few years so that insurers could obtain the right mix of enrollees are set to expire next year. (The risk corridor program slaps a fee on insurance companies that have lower-than-expected medical losses, and compensates those that have more. The reinsurance program imposes a fee on insurance policies and funnels it to insurers with high-risk individuals.) With these programs gone, the challenge of maintaining a balanced risk pool will become even harder.

Advertisement

Of course, none of this is news to Longtime Sharp VodkaPundit Readers™. “Your ♡bamaCare!!! Fail of the Day” has been covering all of these simmering troubles right from the start. What makes Dalmia’s report of interest is that it was published by The Week, which is hardly a fire-breathing rightwing rag.

The fact is that it’s becoming impossible to gloss over ♡bamaCare!!!’s failures, starting with the “if you like your plan” promise and ending…

Cripes, I don’t think I want to know how this thing ends.

Recommended

Trending on PJ Media Videos

Join the conversation as a VIP Member

Advertisement
Advertisement