EDITORIAL: Another Obamacare rate shock
Customers can expect hefty premium hikes for next year's policies.
Yes, again. It'll be this way until this faltering law gets fixed or replaced.
For 2017, you may recall,
We don't yet have preliminary increases for 2018 policies because
Nationally, more than 4 in 10 insurers estimate that their rates will rise 20 percent or more, according to a survey by consulting firm
Why the shocking hikes? Major reasons include:
--Insurers still struggle to sign up enough healthy (low-cost) people to offset the higher costs of sicker policy holders. Even the individual mandate that Americans buy coverage or pay a penalty didn't convince many healthy Americans that Obamacare policies with government-mandated benefits were a good value for their money. Think about that: The current system isn't just expensive, for millions of people it's also so unattractive that they'd rather go without health coverage.
--Uncertainty. Insurers hate it. "...
One driver of that uncertainty: President
He has threatened to end government-provided cost-sharing subsidies that help millions afford insurance. If he does, rates rise and many of those people won't be able to afford insurance. And more insurers bail: More than 4 in 10 insurers in the Wyman survey said they'd likely abandon the market if the payments stopped. The others said they'd re-file proposed rates, presumably raising them to cover the loss of those government payments. Lose-lose for consumers.
Instead of swiftly resolving this issue, the administration has continued the payments temporarily. Administration officials also asked a federal appeals court to delay a ruling on the legality of those subsidy payments. All of that suggests that the
That creates more unpredictability for insurers. Result: Many Americans may be priced out of the market or may find dwindling or no carriers willing to offer policies in their counties.
If the administration continues to dither,
Huge proposed premium increases for 2018 demonstrate the hollowness of that hope. Obamacare won't heal itself.
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