Obamacare’s Collapsing Coverage Choices

WASHINGTON, May 23 -- Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, issued the following news:

Under Obamacare, the American people were promised a health law that would deliver better, more affordable care and coverage to all Americans.

Now, seven years later, Obamacare still falls short of the mark. In fact, with higher costs and fewer choices, the outlook for a growing number of Americans has gotten much worse as they scramble to find coverage under the expensive and unworkable law.

Unstable marketplaces have forced insurers out of the market entirely, leaving many parts of the country with only one insurer and the fear of someday having none at all.

Just look at the headlines across the nation:

Bloomberg: Aetna Is Latest Health Insurer to Quit Obamacare Markets, "Obamacare's markets are becoming increasingly vulnerable as major health insurers exit, citing financial losses. Some insurers have stayed in, but raised the premiums they charge customers by double-digit percentages...Some of the instability has been going on for years, as fewer people than expected have signed up for plans and many have been sicker than insurers accounted for." (May 10, 2017)

Washington Post: The Future of Obamacare Will Be Written by Insurers Like This One, "'The insurance markets in two states are now hanging by a thread, held together at this moment by a small, Midwestern plan that most people had never heard of before...'" (May 12, 2017)

Washington Examiner: Walls Fall In on Obamacare, "This month Obamacare became extinct in 94 of Iowa's 99 counties, as a small insurer, Medica, which had been the last man standing, followed Aetna and Wellmark Blue Cross Blue Shield out of the program. This means there may be zero insurers on the state's exchanges next year." (May 22, 2017)

Dallas Morning News: Why Texans Should Be Concerned About Aetna Leaving Obamacare Exchanges in 2018, "Every exchange had at least one insurer offering coverage for 2017, but a growing number were down to only one. Insurance experts expect holes to develop in 2018...Americans left with one carrier may see higher prices." (May 11, 2017)

Vox: What Does it Look Like When Obamacare Explodes?, "Insurers leaving the marketplace have cited growing instability and uncertainty over the health care law's future. Some previously lost millions in the marketplaces' early years, when they had more sick people enroll than expected." (May 15, 2017)

Clearly, the status quo is unacceptable. It's time for Congress to act to repeal and replace Obamacare with patient-centered principles that will effectively address costs and give American individuals and families more choices.