“Bad publicity” was the reason a Washington Post writer came up with to explain Americans’ dislike of Obamacare, ignoring recent negative news about enrollment and rate increases.
Catherine Rampell, an opinion writer [1] with The Washington Post, argued that “most Americans” who got insurance through Obamacare exchanges were “happy” with it. Of course, she failed to ask why the government had to lower its estimate for how many would enroll in 2015 and news reports of rising premiums.
Rampell wondered on Nov. 17, “So when will the GOP learn to stop worrying and love Obamacare?”
Probably not in 2015.
According to administration officials, those enrolled in Obamacare “could face substantial price increases next year — in some cases as much as 20 percent — unless they switch plans,” The New York Times reported [2] Nov. 14. Buyers of even the “cheapest” plans could see their rates climb by 15 percent next year, Investor’s Business Daily added [3] on the same day.
IBD’s Jed Graham said, “A review of premiums in one major market in each of 48 states plus D.C. shows that, on average, premiums for a 40-year-old earning 250% of the poverty level ($29,175 for a single person) will rise 15% for next year. That includes the impact of a smaller average tax credit.”
In addition to the increase in premiums, the Obama administration lowered its estimate of the number of Americans it expected to enroll in health coverage. Instead of enrolling 13 million individuals by 2015, the administration said it only expected to enroll 9.9 million individuals, according [4] to Nov. 10, Wall Street Journal.
Yet Rampell ignored all these pesky facts. The real problem, in her view, was that people “hate the law itself.” She boldly predicted that Obamacare would be “fiercely opposed by conservatives until they realize people really like it, leading both parties to become champions of its expansion.”