With the many setbacks ObamaCare has experienced in recent weeks, the Obama administration is desperate to stem the tide of bad news.
As reported by The New York Times:
The administration is also hunting for consumers who can deliver “testimonials” advertising the benefits of coverage under the Affordable Care Act. “Interested consumers could appear in television, radio, print and/or digital ads and on social media,” the administration said in an appeal sent last week to health care advocates and insurance counselors.
From insurers exiting the marketplace to costs increasing, ObamaCare is continuing to unravel. Aetna, the third largest insurer in the country followed the course of UnitedHealth and Humana by announcing that it would be leaving the ObamaCare marketplace after suffering $300 million in pre-tax losses. Mounting losses aren’t limited to for-profit insurers, as 7 of 23 ObamaCare co-ops that remain are hemorrhaging cash while non-profit insurers are losing money hand over fist:
Health Care Service Corporation, which runs nonprofit Blue Cross and Blue Shield plans in Illinois, Montana, New Mexico, Oklahoma and Texas, said it lost $1.5 billion last year selling individual policies on the exchanges.
While insurer exits and the shuttering of ObamaCare co-ops are leaving consumers with fewer choices, skyrocketing premiums are on the horizon as five states that have already signed off on 2017 premiums will see them increase 17 percent on average:
Prices across insurance carriers are very likely to make a big jump for 2017, records show. Insurers seek approval for average national premium increases of 24%, according to calculations by Charles Gaba of ACAsignups.net.
Small-business aren’t immune from ObamaCare’s rising costs either. This morning, The Boston Globe reported Massachusetts’ small businesses will see their rates rise by 8.2 percent on average if they renew their plan by October 1. Businesses enrolled in the Harvard Pilgrim HMO plan and the Neighborhood Health Plan will see their rates soar by 18 percent. As costs rise, businesses are left no choice but to slash their workforce or pass on the higher costs to their employees.
It’s curious why the Obama administration continues to hope for an impossible ObamaCare miracle that will stave off the law’s impending collapse. Rather than plead for ObamaCare success stories so they may advertise a failure leaving Americans worse off, the Obama administration should cut its losses and scrap the failed law entirely.