My neighbor got a letter from his insurance company this week telling him that his premium would triple and his deductible would double. He would now be paying $1500 a month for health insurance. He’s not alone. A lot of people got these notices. They can all thank Donald Trump, Congress and the Republicans in the North Carolina legislature.
Donald Trump’s attempts to sabotage Obamacare are working. Since he became president, he’s created uncertainty in the market by ending subsidies to cover poor people, cutting the enrollment period in half and halting public relations programs to educate people about the enrollment period. The measures will reduce the number of healthy people who sign up, costing insurance companies more money and causing premiums to rise. North Carolina stands to lose more than $300 million in federal money.
The GOP Congress, for their part, has done nothing to stabilize the program. Instead, they’ve promised to repeal and replace Obamacare but have failed miserably. Every plan they’ve put forth would kick millions of people off insurance while raising premiums and providing inferior coverage. Senator Lamar Alexander (R-TN) and Senator Patty Murray (D-WA) came up with a bipartisan bill to restore the subsidies that Trump killed but the bill will probably never reach the floor and would like either die in the House or get vetoed by Trump. The GOP in Washington can’t see past their political rhetoric to actually help American families struggling with healthcare.
The North Carolina legislature has done all it can to thwart the success of the Affordable Care Act while costing North Carolinians more for their insurance. They refused to expand Medicaid, denying coverage to about 500,000 people and increasing the number of less healthy people in the individual marketplace. Their actions have reduced competition, leaving most the state with only one insurer, Blue Cross and Blue Shield, and BCBS said they might pull out next year if the subsidies aren’t restored.
Donald Trump and the GOP lack the political will to actually end the Affordable Care Act and lack the political imagination to come up with a plan that would provide similar coverage while reducing healthcare costs. Instead, they’ve decided to sabotage the program and hope that the Democrats get the blame. It’s the epitome of putting politics before people. They’re less concerned with the health and welfare of the American people than they are with ending a government program for ideological reasons.
It’s also bad politics. Republicans had seven years to come up with an alternative to the Affordable Care Act and clearly haven’t done so. They now control all branches of government. Voters overwhelming want Congress to make Obamacare work and they will hold the party in power accountable. Letters like the one my neighbor got will be the most effective negative direct mail pieces dropped during the 2018 election cycle.
Thomas Mills is the founder and publisher of PoliticsNC.com. Before beginning PoliticsNC, Thomas spent twenty years as a political and public affairs consultant. Learn more >
My son had a $5000 deductible. When met, the insurance company would pay 100% of the rest of his costs if received from one of the company’s providers. The policy was grandfathered in, never part of Obamacare. Monthly $383′
The company announced this month that they would no longer offer this policy and suggested going to a bronze plan on the exchanges.
Cash outlay limited to $6500. Monthly $833.
By my math, that’s a bit more than the 20% raise in premium costs I hear about.
There is some talk of a so-called “copper” plan but the insurance company doesn’t offer this in their information handouts.
Your are kidding me. There has been no changes in Obama Care. These are problems the D’s did not deal with for 7 years. What was the action or part of Obama care that he delayed 3 to 4 years until he left office?
I paid $20,000 last year out of pocket for a family of four and my spouse had her premium paid by the state. At approx. $500.00 a month. I do not think the average family of 4 medical expense should be $26,000 per year.
What do you think a person should spend for medical coverage per month? What is fair?
Democrats were not the majority in Congress. You have forgotten that the Republicans did everything they could to sabotage the Affordable Care Act. Now it’s the fault of the Democrats? Do you remember the 64 and counting votes to repeal the Affordable Care Act? That bill you are looking at was delivered to you by Mitch McConnell and Paul Ryan. Thank them.
Uh huh, but they were very much the majority when they passed ACA over the objections of the nation, and Dems have paid for it in election after election ever since. When you push major legislation that messes with people’s lives without at least SOME bi-partisan support, future trouble is certain. As for expanding Medicaid in NC, that is a disservice to the families with limited means for which Medicaid was intended. There’s only so much money to go around, are we now supposed to expand it to less deserving, better off people as well?
Single payer would give the Government and it’s bureaucrats the absolute power of life or death over any individual’s access to healthcare, and in any event, a nation with over $20 trillion in debt, simply can’t pay for something like that. Congress is already looking for ways to cut healthcare benefits for retired military veterans because……wait for it!….it’s costing them too much. And if it costs too much money to fund healthcare for such a small subset of the population…….
My wife’s went up from $127 to $345 almost 2 weeks pay…I’m on SS…tighten that screw a little more Chump45 ya scumbag!
Don’t you know that President Obama had a Republican Congress that refused to pass any legislation he proposed, and particularly anything to do with Obamacare. Didn’t you learn in school that presidents don’t pass laws, Congress does? If you can afford to pay $20,000 for health insurance in a year you must be one of those fat cats who own the Republican party!
What planet have you been living on? From the day Obama took office, the GOP did everything possible to block any and all action from him.. Passing the ACA was done after 13 months of public hearings, and included 150 amendments (House and Senate combined) offered by the GOP and accepted by the Dems when they were a majority. Then the GOP refused to vote “yes” on a bill they had helped shape, that was based on an original proposal from the Heritage Foundation. After it was passed and they gained a majority in the House, for over 6 years they repeatedly refused to do anything except try to repeal the ACA, rejecting any and all suggestions to improve it. Is the ACA in need of improvement? Yes, and a lot of what is wrong with it is the high cost, which is a direct result of using profit making insurance businesses and profit making drug companies to provide essential medical care. $26,000 is outrageous, but get ready for more if Congress and Trump continue as they have for the past few months.
Exactly.
Throwing bombs at America’s institutions seems to be Trump’s only expertise. His followers may be thrilled because the joy of watching decent people recoil in horror at his brutish antics is one of life’s rare treats. His displays of unfitness and stupidity may be too delicious for the Republicans, racists and the anti-social right to give up, but here comes the price tag. The jerks at the Klan rallies may not want or need dental care because teeth are what those liberal elitists use when they eat their brie and chateaubriand. But they may need a doctor, a hospital or a prescription refilled.
When do the uninformed and willfully ignorant finally get some learning? Maybe when their medical insurance triples and Mama dies without insurance. Fox will not be covering this story