GOP asks for Obamacare horror stories, gets the truth instead!

By now we all know that the so-called horror stories of Obamacare from Republican voters and even politicians about Obamacare making their premiums go up by 28,562% are all manufactured lies, but for some reason Republicans believe them. The Indiana Star is reporting that the Indiana GOP solicited Indiana citizens for disaster stories about Obamacare on its facebook page, but got the cold, hard truth instead, which is always a thing of beauty.

Republicans should be proud of Obamacare. It's the most Republican thing a Democrat has ever done. In fact, if it were called Bushcare of Trumpcare, they'd all love it!

https://www.washingtonpost.com/amphtml/blogs/plum-line/wp/2017/07/05/a-gop-stunt-backfires-and-accidentally-reveals-a-truth-republicans-want-hidden/

http://www.politifact.com/wisconsin/statements/2017/feb/03/paul-ryan/testing-paul-ryan-claim-obamacare-premium-increase/

Testing Paul Ryan claim on Obamacare premium increases of up to 116 percent

U.S. House Speaker Paul Ryan has received a lot of criticism (and a False rating from us) for his claims that actuaries say Obamacare is in a "death spiral." But it’s far from his only criticism of the former president’s trademark health care law.

Ryan has repeatedly brought up rising premiums as well, notably in his Jan. 5, 2017weekly briefing where he ran off a list of increases for 2017.

"This law is hurting people right now. I mean, look at these premium increases," the Janesville Republican said, then ticked off a series of states.

"This year Arizona, 116 percent increase in premiums. Tennessee, 63 percent increase in premiums. Oklahoma, 69 percent increase in premiums. Illinois, 43 percent increase in premiums. North Carolina, 40 percent increase in premiums. Nebraska, 51 percent. Pennsylvania, 53 percent. These aren’t statistics, these are real lives," he said. "These are real families facing huge premium increases."

Are the premium increases Ryan cited correct, "hurting people right now" and attributable to Obamacare?

Numbers are on the mark

The basic numbers are easy to confirm: Those increases are indeed accurate for 2017 compared to 2016 within the Obamacare marketplace. Arizona has by far the largest increase in the nation, and Oklahoma is second.

The states all are among the Top 10 in percentage increase over 2016, according toestimates the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services released in October 2016.

As such, they are not a representative sample of all 50 states, but Ryan never claimed they were. And they are the headlines in a clear national trend.

Premiums rose an average of 25 percent across the 39 states that use the HealthCare.gov marketplace. Only one state (Indiana) saw premiums drop in 2017.

The calculation is based on the average cost in each county for the second-lowest-cost silver level plan for a 27-year-old, a plan widely used as a benchmark to compare rates between years and geographic areas.

Premiums affect many people

Ryan’s description of the law as "hurting people right now" is a bit subjective, but it’s clear enough for us to examine since he later expanded on this by referencing "families facing huge premium increases."

Obamacare supporters often claim premium increases are irrelevant due to the subsidies built into Obamacare. Those subsidies cap premium prices at a certain percentage of income for anyone below 400% of the federal poverty level (that’s $48,240 in 2017 for a single person). For 2017, 81 percent of consumers enrolled in the marketplace through Dec. 24, 2016 were in line to receive a subsidy.

That means 19% of those insured will receive no subsidy and therefore bear the full weight of those premium increases (assuming they stay on the same plan). That’s more than 2 million people, based on the latest enrollment data.

Fair to attribute increase to Obamacare?

The final hurdle for Ryan’s claim is the matter of blame. He says the law itself is hurting people right now — in other words, that increases due to Obamacare go beyond the general trend of rising health care costs.

This year’s 25 percent increase is by far the largest since Obamacare began. Premiums rose around 7 percent in 2016 and 3 percent in 2015, based on the HHS analysis of the same benchmark plan.

For starters, that jump is far beyond what is expected industry wide. The National Business Group on Health estimates employees of the nation’s largest businesses — an indicator of overall health insurance costs — will see about a 5 percent premium increase in 2017, based on a survey of 425 large employers.

Obamacare premiums are rising far more in part because of several mechanisms built into the healthcare law that have ended or not worked as intended — reinsurance and risk corridors.

Both were set up as temporary measures from 2014 to 2016 to subsidize the marketplace, artificially keeping prices low.

Reinsurance was designed to reduce the incentive for insurers to charge higher premiums to higher-cost policyholders in the first years of Obamacare, which was accomplished by transferring funds to the plans for those policyholders.

Risk corridors were designed to transfer money from profitable insurers to those losing money on the ACA exchange, discourage insurers from setting high premiums due to the uncertainty of the new market.

They were originally pitched as a mechanism that would bring in money, then as one that would break even. But the latest data shows in 2015 claims from insurers for payment through the program outweighed the money paid in by $5.8 billion, so the expected funds weren’t available to redistribute.

Now that the programs have ended as designed, premiums are rising to more closely match what it actually costs insurers to offer plans in the marketplace.

This is by no means an exhaustive accounting of the factors driving 2017 premiums upward. Experts say general growth in health care costs still play a role, as do changes in who is signing up, provider networks and the small group market, among others.

Our rating

Ryan said soaring Obamacare premiums are "hurting people right now," including one state with an increase of 116 percent.

The state-by-state increases he cited were correct based on the commonly used benchmark plan. The increases appear likely to affect several million people since about one-fifth of those enrolled in Obamacare aren’t eligible for subsidies.

And while we can’t exactly identify all the factors in the rising premiums, they are clearly going up more than non-Obamacare premiums due in part to how the system was set up.

The missing nuance in Ryan’s claim is that it doesn’t acknowledge the millions of people who wouldn’t have any insurance without Obamacare and would presumably end up hurting even more. And we’ll note some level of financial hurt would exist regardless due to ever-rising cost of health care.

For a statement that is accurate but needs clarification or additional information,our rating is Mostly True.

destroyed in the first respond.

*golf clap*

I wonder if Frank Castle realizes it was the Indiana GOP asking Indiana voters, and it's clear he didn't actually read what he posted. OMFG LOL.

"Premiums rose an average of 25 percent across the 39 states that use the HealthCare.gov marketplace. Only one state (Indiana) saw premiums drop in 2017."

Most conservatives didn't want dick to do with Obamacare

It was pushed through by Dems when they still had control of the House and Senate.

And they were shady as **** about it from the start. Even Nancy Pelosi flatout said "we need to pass the bill for you to find out what's in it"...what a dunce.

My insurance has doubled each and every year starting with the second year of the ACA being implemented. I expect the usual responses that our government is not giving enough tax dollars to these companies thus pushing the increase on to me but insuring high risk and those using many, many, many services is a culprit.

Truth is that it was a massive handout to the private insurance markets that progressives wanted to steer healthcare reform away from by having either a single payer system or a government managed health insurance option, the private exchange compromise was the only way to get any meaningful reform passed because Republicans obstructed negotiations like a Spartan phalanx. Chiding the reform was more rhetorical than it was ideological, but at some point Republican leadership broke the Crack 10 Commandments by getting high on their own supply (of bullshit). Right now the current problems in state insurance markets isn't caused by Obamacare's sustainability but the uncertainty caused by Republican efforts to repeal and replace the ACA.

LOL

First, only morons believe nonsense propaganda like this. Normal, well-adjusted people know that she was referring to: https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/post-partisan/post/pelosi-defends-her-infamous-health-care-remark/2012/06/20/gJQAqch6qV_blog.html

Second, there were some 80 public hearings on the ACA, so you can piss off what that right-wing horse shit.

http://www.snopes.com/aca-versus-ahca/

Its pretty hilarious to have both sides fight over a plan originally thought up by a conservative thinktank... I am not sure who to be more angry at, Republican scumbags that are pushing forward a anti citizen healthcare reform that will pad the pockets of the industry.. Or the Democrat scumbags who pushes a conservative plan acting like they want serious healthcare reform, while padding the pockets of the health industry.. I seriously believe neither party has the average citizens best interests in mind when it comes to this debate.. Money needs to be taken out of politics and the majority of these sell outs, hacks need to be elected out of office.

Capitalism just needs to be taken out of health insurance.

And politics.

and Taco Bell.

my wife works at a hospital in California and being on Obamacare is not necessarily an advantage because the co-payments are still in the thousands of dollars for the people that are on Obamacare

I doubt that.

@LJS9502_basic: lol doubt away. this is a fact. especially with surgery. its is very very sad our healthcare system here in the statesm

There IS a way to fix this though. Put all of the United States government officials/ politicians/ senators/ president trump on obamacare and believe me the healthcare system would be worked out in NO TIME.

No I'm not. But it is based on income so there is no one standard rate. Also I think you are confusing co-pay with deductibles. And as a deductible that would be in line with health insurance.

@_SKatEDiRt_: hate to break it to you, but everyone in congress is on Obamacare. The Grassley amendment from R senator Chuck Grassley made sure of it.

@LJS9502_basic:You are right I meant deductible. These deductibles can be very expensive which is irritating given you are paying monthly through your work for "insurance".

@tjandmia: Proof?

LJ's right, deductibles "in the thousands of dollars" is the norm for private insurance, not just Obamacare. It sounds like you're gunning for single payer/public option if you're not content with such deductibles.

I have had several surgeries and have never had to pay such deductibles. Neither should anyone else.

@_SKatEDiRt_: I agree. When they lead to large numbers of bankruptcies, it becomes a societal burden and not merely a personal one.

I have very good insurance that I pay very little toward through and employer and the options have deductibles that are a few thousand.

Commercial health care coverage is based on the employer and what they are willing to pay. Your employer obviously is shouldering a large burden of your health care costs. That's great.

Most employers do have deductibles in the thousands of dollars. That is the norm. Far more than you realize.

I think we can all agree that the provision forbidding denying coverage to people with pre-existing conditions was a good idea.

Obamacare has done great things but does have its drawbacks. Instead of getting rid of it, we should move to improve it. Ideally, I would like to see universal coverage but it won't happen for sometime.

Raise your hand if you think your premiums are going down once Republicans replace the ACA. Please show me how many of you are that dumb.

@sayyy-gaa: Yeah its fucking ridiculous.

@Shewgenja: hell no why would they cut down profits hahaha

When you say universal coverage do you mean:

1. Healthcare coverage for all Americans

2. Equal healthcare coverage for all Americans

Number 1 is doable and we already have it with Medicare(albeit with restrictions such as age, ESRD, etc.). We'd just have to expand it. Option 2? I don't know if that's possible in a country that has always defined itself by class division.

From both sides of politics (DEMS and REPS), they can't figure out Canada/Australia/Germany/UK's lower cost universal health care system.

Dems have had it figured for 50 years - medicare for all paid for by a tax increase.

@tjandmia: yep...which within 40 years will bankrupt the nation.

There is a reason quite a few countries have single payer....they pay little on defense because America handles it, and even then we are seeing counties go bankrupt regardless.

Face it you were destroyed in the first post Obamacare is universally shit.

My own story: I had decent insurance that served my purpose it paid for my prescriptions and I didn't need to suck off the government teet to get it but like all corrupt systems Obamacare forced my insurance provider to cancel that plan "the government intruded on a contract I a private citizen had with a company".

So I was without insurance along with millions of other Americans and had to wait quite a while for the website to work only to be told I didn't exist....that's what happens when you pay millions to the credit bureaus to try and verify people with little or no credit history.

So I was required to send in quite a bit of material to prove my identity....only to find out the cheapest plan offered to me cost 3x as much as my plan before "it now costs 4x more than that" subsidies and tax credits don't benefit anyone if they don't have the money to spend.

So now I have state insurance...Obamacare was a scheme to expands medicare and get people dependent on government more.

No one cares about your goofy right-wing personal experience. No one believes that stupid shit. Anyway, Obamacare markets are stable and insurers are making a profit. Sorry, I don't do the whole emotion thing to make decisions.

http://www.businessinsider.com/cbo-report-insurance-market-death-spiral-obamacare-trump-2017-3

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2017/07/10/obamacare-marketplaces-just-had-their-most-profitable-first-quarter-ever/

And more than "quite a few" countries have some form of universal coverage for their citizens, 58, including Israel and Russia, the two current favorite of the party of traitors, the Republicans.

So piss right off with your dumb talking points and arguments from emotion as none of them reflect reality. You literally believe bullshit.

Capitalism in health insurance has had 70 years to prove itself a viable option and has failed at every single turn. LOL at you for pretending that Obamacare isn't capitalism.

It takes a fool to think Obamacare isn't a disaster. Too bad the Republicans aren't smart enough to fix it.

Funny, because the facts tell us otherwise. It's probably the only Republican idea that kind of works.