Obamacare’s Cost Increase Aren’t “Just Fine”

This week, Pennsylvania Insurance Commissioner Teresa Miller sent a letter suggesting that an 8.8 percent increase in insurance premiums next year was a good thing, and shows that Obamacare is “stabilizing.”

Really?!? I was under the impression that the so-called “Affordable Care Act” was supposed to reduce health care costs, not make them more expensive. 

A 9 percent increase is not a light increase in the financial burden already felt by families. Salaries and wages aren't rising at anything close to 9 percent next year, even in state government. Neither are household incomes. Even government spending isn't going up by 9 percent. There is no realm in which 9 percent can be considered a small increase.

Moreover, next year's premium increase is on top of dramatic increases over the past few years. As Colleen notes, recent federal data shows the average monthly premium for an individual in Pennsylvania went up 120 percent from 2013 to 2017!

Indeed, a 9 percent increase on the average 2017 premium of $533 represents a $48 increase. (In 2013, an additional $48 would have been a 20 percent premium increase). To illustrate this compounding effect, here are my own health insurance premiums since 2011, with the lowest price I could get on the exchange, and a projected 9 percent increase for next year. (Personal note: I now get coverage through MediShare at a significantly lower cost than the insurance regulated by Obamacare).

Obamacare isn't working. It's time our elected officials recognize that, rather than pretend everything is fine.