HEALTHCARE/OBAMACARE(ACA)/POLITICS: “Obamacare markets are undergoing a slow-motion meltdown as Republicans stoke a climate of uncertainty while struggling to agree on their own plan for overhauling American health care.
The steady march of insurers that have announced plans to exit marketplaces in recent weeks leaves Obamacare customers in wide swaths of the country with potentially no options for purchasing subsidized coverage in 2018. In the latest and most significant blow, Anthem this week announced it will pull out of Ohio next year, leaving at least 18 counties without an insurer selling Obamacare plans.
Republicans characterize their efforts to repeal and replace Obamacare as a ‘rescue mission,’ citing skyrocketing premiums, dwindling competition and lower-than-expected enrollment in many states. ‘Wave goodbye,’ President Donald Trump said of Obamacare in a speech in Ohio on Wednesday [6-7-17], gleefully referring to Anthem’s exit. ‘What a mess.’
But many health care experts and insurers contend it is Republican actions over the last five months that have turned a difficult situation into an outright emergency that could knock out health insurance coverage for millions of Americans.”
-Paul Demko, “GOP uncertainty over Obamacare drives out insurers,” Politico, June 8, 2017 05:11am