Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

Billions of taxpayer dollars later, Obamacare's still unaffordable
Washington Examiner ^ | November 06, 2023 | Sally Pipes

Posted on 11/07/2023 5:51:37 AM PST by Mr. Mojo

Nearly 3 in 5 people who purchase individual health plans find it at least somewhat difficult to afford care, according to a new Commonwealth Fund survey.

Put another way, insurance under the Affordable Care Act is anything but affordable.

That's no surprise. Democrats have spent billions subsidizing coverage through the exchanges without doing anything to address the structural reasons why the cost of insurance has surged. Their approach is making insurers rich — at the expense of taxpayers and patients. In 2013, the year before Obamacare went into effect, the average monthly premium in the individual market was $244. By 2019, it was $558.

Next year, the average lowest-cost plan premium on the exchanges will be $479 a month. Democrats know that's not exactly affordable. So they've used taxpayer dollars to mask the true cost of exchange coverage. Federal subsidies for insurance premiums amount to $91 billion this year. More than 9 in 10 exchange enrollees receive subsidies. That amounts to a multibillion-dollar transfer from your wallet to insurance companies. It only adds to the handsome profits insurers have made, and will continue to make, off of Obamacare.

With taxpayers picking up an ever-greater share of premiums, consumers are relatively insensitive to premium hikes. So insurers have little problem raising rates. Indeed, next year's average lowest-cost plan premium on the exchanges is 7% higher than this year. The subsidies may insulate against premium hikes, but they do not alleviate the pain associated with high deductibles and narrow provider networks.

This year, the average enrollee with a mid-level silver plan had to meet a deductible of nearly $4,900 . Less generous bronze plans had an average deductible of nearly $7,500. Historically, roughly three-quarters of exchange plans have confined their beneficiaries to narrow provider networks.

Until lawmakers address Obamacare's flaws, insurers will continue profiting off of the individual market's dysfunction. And patients and taxpayers will continue paying the price.


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Government
KEYWORDS: healthcare; obamacare
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first 1-2021-27 next last
<< Democrats have spent billions subsidizing coverage through the exchanges without doing anything to address the structural reasons why the cost of insurance has surged. Their approach is making insurers rich — at the expense of taxpayers and patients. >>

Which was the plan all along.

1 posted on 11/07/2023 5:51:37 AM PST by Mr. Mojo
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | View Replies]

To: Mr. Mojo

And our insurance agent says no one will take it because the payback is so poor.


2 posted on 11/07/2023 5:57:53 AM PST by leaning conservative (snow coming, school cancelled, yayyyyyyyyy!!!!!!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Mr. Mojo

I tried to tell everyone that I knew that this was a disaster in the making

But there were far too many worshipers of the Manchurian Candidate Barack Hussein Obama and his obvious lies

Fools


3 posted on 11/07/2023 6:00:34 AM PST by SaveFerris (Luke 17:28 ... as it was in the days of Lot; they did eat, they drank, they bought, they sold ......)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Mr. Mojo

Truly, honestly, I can’t think of a thing that gooberment touches that does not get worse or cost more or both. Can anyone think of anything that gooberment does that actually has gotten better? Please, tell us if you can.


4 posted on 11/07/2023 6:01:01 AM PST by Sequoyah101 (Procrastination is just a form of defiance)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Mr. Mojo

bttt


5 posted on 11/07/2023 6:01:45 AM PST by Pajamajan (Pray for our nation. Never be slave in a new Socialist America.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: All

THE CANCER CALLED BARACK OBAMA MOVED STEALTHILY AMONG US
still Obama’s eight years in office had done its damage:
<><>politicization and weaponization of federal agencies,
<><>victimization becoming a virtue,
<><>government intruding into Americans’ health decisions
<><>massive damage by his Justice Department,
<><>coerced cities into “consent decrees” that neutered police forces
<><> fully engaged feds in the cult of progressivism
<><>white supremacy invented,
<><>environmental extremism,LBGT fanaticism, open borders lockstep,
<><>govt workers seeking to derail Trump the duly elected president,

This treachery culminated in November 2020 when the government colluded with the media and social media to execute a coup against the sitting president under the guise of “The most secure election in American history”. And it is that coup with which Barack Obama achieved his greatest success in “transforming” the United States because it inflicted Joe Biden on us to give Obama a third term.

(americanthinker.com)


6 posted on 11/07/2023 6:02:56 AM PST by Liz (“The only time Biden gets his hands dirty is when he’s taking cash from foreign countries." Trump)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 2 | View Replies]

To: Mr. Mojo

Another campaign issue if we can run with it. Trump gets things done. I remember him saying his own plan will cover ‘everybody’. Perhaps his confidence is what’s needed now.

He should put nurses in charge of his new system. They’re the ones who take care of the patients and women will know he respects them while the doctors are giving the appearance of the indifferent rich out there.

Opportunity missed? You tell me.


7 posted on 11/07/2023 6:05:16 AM PST by DIRTYSECRET
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Mr. Mojo

Recall wise freepers had plenty of good ideas to help reduce costs, but unfortunately none of them involved kickbacks, DNC donations or more socialism...


8 posted on 11/07/2023 6:05:30 AM PST by Made In The USA (Ellen Ate Dynamite Good Bye Elllen)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: SaveFerris

Lawyers from SEIU wrote Obamacare.
Then they took over United Healthcare.
Paul Ryan sat there and did nothing.
The GOP-e attacked the Tea Party.
The left laughed at the fools running the GOP.

In 15 years, we have learned that Politics is not what we thought it was.


9 posted on 11/07/2023 6:11:37 AM PST by Zathras
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 3 | View Replies]

To: Mr. Mojo
Until lawmakers address Obamacare's flaws

Since the core flaw is commie care itself, the only way to address it is to repeal it.

10 posted on 11/07/2023 6:15:01 AM PST by fruser1
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Mr. Mojo

Because it was never really about medical care.

It was and is about money and power.


11 posted on 11/07/2023 6:16:32 AM PST by Iron Munro (Sun Tzu: An Evil Man Will Burn His Own Nation To The Ground To Rule Over The Ashes. )
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Mr. Mojo

McCain cast the deciding vote in the Senate against driving a stake into the heart of this monster.


12 posted on 11/07/2023 6:26:09 AM PST by wjcsux (On 3/14/1883 Karl Marx gave humanity his best gift, he died. )
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Mr. Mojo

This is an EASY FIX to Obamacare and it is guaranteed to work.
We need the PEACE Act. The Public Employee Affordable Care Enrollment act, and Mandate that EVERY PUBLIC EMPLOYEE in America Enroll in The Affordable Care Act and pay for it them selves. Our public employees deserve the very Best Health Insurance this country has to offer, and that is OBAMACARE.


13 posted on 11/07/2023 6:26:26 AM PST by eyeamok
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Mr. Mojo

There are MANY commercials on TV saying that people found health care plans for $14/mo.


14 posted on 11/07/2023 6:27:13 AM PST by Blood of Tyrants ( "It is easier to fool people than to convince them they have been fooled."- Mark Twain)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Mr. Mojo

BTTT!!!


15 posted on 11/07/2023 6:29:15 AM PST by musicman (The future is just a collection of successive nows.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Mr. Mojo

Government payments is what has driven the cost of insurance and healthcare up for decades. The government sets a fee it will pay for a certain procedure. The doctors and hospitals all know what that number is so they will charge MUCH more and accept the loser payment. But they also know that next year the government will raise the amount they pay.

And the cycle repeats itself over and over.


16 posted on 11/07/2023 6:32:30 AM PST by Blood of Tyrants ( "It is easier to fool people than to convince them they have been fooled."- Mark Twain)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Liz

obama/soetoro/what ever his real name is has his third term. He even told us how he would do it. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9BdGLrb-HTY


17 posted on 11/07/2023 6:41:33 AM PST by shooter223 (the government should fear the citizens......not the other way around)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 6 | View Replies]

To: Mr. Mojo

Politicians should have been PUT on Obamacare from day one


18 posted on 11/07/2023 6:53:09 AM PST by butlerweave
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Mr. Mojo

obunko-care ruined my son, daughter-in-law and granddaughters. A HS teacher and coach, a guidance counselor, their premiums quadrupled and their $800 deductible soared to $10,000 under bunko-care. Many maladies were left untreated as a result.

They became depressed over it, disenchanted, ceased to care about things they used to exult in. As soon as the daughters were out of the house and the oldest graduated from college, they split up.


19 posted on 11/07/2023 7:02:15 AM PST by Migraine
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Mr. Mojo

Agreed. The purpose of their plan was to force government universal coverage


20 posted on 11/07/2023 7:17:12 AM PST by SomeCallMeTim
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first 1-2021-27 next last

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson