ObamaCare News Just Keeps Getting Worse

It’s been a dismal few weeks for ObamaCare, and big insurance companies aren’t making things any easier for Americans. Even The New York Times published the headline: “News About Obamacare Has Been Bad Lately. How Bad?”

First, there was a report from Blue Cross Blue Shield that showed the Obamacare markets are struggling more than people expected:

“The report, which shows that new customers are sicker and costlier than people in the old individual insurance market, made a big splash Wednesday, because it implied that the Obamacare markets are more troubled than many had expected.”

About a week later, UnitedHealth, the largest insurer in the U.S., decided to pull out of two ObamaCare exchange markets:

“UnitedHealth Group Inc., the largest U.S. health insurer, has decided to call it quits in two state Obamacare markets, in the latest challenge to President Barack Obama’s health-care overhaul.”

Now, a new study from Kaiser Family Foundation shows that people are paying more and more in out-of-pocket costs. The report notes that a major factor is that insurance companies are becoming less generous and paying a smaller share of costs:

“As can be seen in the chart below, over this time period, patient cost-sharing rose substantially faster than payments for care by health plans as insurance coverage became a little less generous. … From 2004 to 2014, the average payments by enrollees towards deductibles rose 256% from $99 to $353, and the average payments towards coinsurance rose 107%, from $117 to $242, while average payments for copays fell by 26%, from $206 to $152. Overall, patient cost-sharing rose by 77%, from an average of $422 in 2004 to $747 in 2014.”