While we were away: Obamacare Failing its Enrollees

• Enrollment in Obamacare exchange plans is now just 9.9 million people, 30 percent less than CBO had predicted.

• Obamacare enrollees are unsatisfied with their plan and the cost of coverage, despite it being heavily subsidized.

• 2016 rate increases are being approved, even though the president said they would come down from initial filings.

• Louisiana and Nevada co-ops are the latest to fail, and many more are financially unsound.

News over August and into September continued to show Americans being disappointed with the president’s health care law. Americans are not finding the coverage worth the cost as 300,000 dropped out of Obamacare since June. They are unsatisfied with their coverage and the cost of it. Meanwhile higher rate increases are coming next year despite the president’s promise that they would not. And co-ops continue to be financially unsound, costing taxpayers millions.

Enrollment Underperforming Again

Yesterday the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services released data showing federal exchange enrollment dropping another 300,000 people. Obamacare exchange plans now cover just 9.9 million people – these are people who have paid their premiums as of June 30.

In July 2012, CBO projected that there would be 14 million people with exchange plans this year, growing to 23 million in 2016. As late as March of this year, CBO still predicted 11 million people with Obamacare exchange coverage in 2015. Yesterday’s release shows that CBO’s latest downgrade was still too optimistic. Despite a consistent lowering of expectations, people continue to value Obamacare far less than the government expects them to.

Recent news of premium increases for next year also suggests that exchange enrollment is likely to underperform CBO’s already downgraded estimate of 21 million for 2016.

Enrollees Unsatisfied

A poll last month by the Deloitte Center for Health Solutions showed just 30 percent of Obamacare enrollees satisfied with their coverage. This compares with 42 percent satisfaction with employer-sponsored plans; and 46 percent overall. The most common reason enrollees are unsatisfied with Obamacare is the cost. Even though 87 percent of enrollees are receiving taxpayer subsides, they are finding the plans unaffordable.

Rate Increases Approved

On August 27, the Wall Street Journal reported on large premium increases insurers have requested and that state regulators have now approved for Obamacare plans.

The president initially pushed back on the rate increases, saying that the rate review process would bring them down substantially. The president said, “my expectation is that they’ll come in significantly lower than what’s being requested.”

But as the Wall Street Journal showed, the president’s expectation fell flat. In Tennessee, regulators approved an average increase of 36.3 percent; in Kentucky, an increase of 25.1 percent was approved; in Oregon, an increase of 25.6 percent was approved; in Ohio, an increase of 14.5 percent was approved; and in Michigan, an increase of 11.4 percent was approved.

Obamacare plans will continue to cost Americans more as other states approve rate increases in the coming months.

Louisiana and Nevada Co-Ops Go Down

Obamacare’s co-op debacle has squandered millions in taxpayer dollars – $2.5 billion in loans have been given to 23 co-ops around the country. In July, the Louisiana Health Co-op collapsed after receiving $66 million from CMS. Last month, the Nevada Health Co-op said it will shut down, also after receiving $66 million from CMS. These were the third and fourth co-ops to fail. Previously, co-ops in Vermont and Iowa closed.

Many other co-ops appear to be financially unsound. According to S&P, one out of three co-ops received more than $20,000 in federal loans for each person they covered last year. These include co-ops in Massachusetts, Illinois, Oregon, Arizona, Tennessee, Ohio, and Connecticut. Maine had the only co-op to record net income last year.