Pathetic attempt to blame Trump for Obamacare failures

The disastrous path Obamacare finds itself on was destined to happen, with or without President Donald Trump, which is why Washington Insurance Commissioner Mike Kreidler’s position is particularly pathetic and transparent.

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This week, Kreidler blamed at least 10 percent of the 36.4 percent premium rate increase on Trump. He poo-poo’s other factors.

“I’m very disheartened to have to approve these rates,” Kreidler said, desperately trying to sound heroic. “The president’s decision to stop making cost-sharing subsidy payments and weakening enforcement of the individual mandate to buy health insurance are behind the surge in premiums we’re seeing this year.”

To call this misleading is an understatement.

It is fair to say that Trump has hastened Obamacare’s inevitable failure. But it is just that: inevitable. The system created under President Barack Obama was financially untenable from the starts and it’s unrelated to the subsidy payments that Trump is refusing to make. The rates were always going to go up.

We knew in May of 2016 that huge rate increases were going to happen. Why?
According to The Seattle Times:

The move comes amid predicted rises in rates nationwide as insurers say coverage required by the federal Affordable Care Act health-care law has proved to be a financial drain. In Virginia, for instance, which reports on rate requests early, increases ranged from 9.4 percent to 37.1 percent.

Premera lost about $117 million in 2015, the company said, largely because it received nearly $412 million in premiums in 2015 but paid nearly $457 million in claims, plus about $72 million in administrative expenses, according to its filing.

You can blame this on Trump all you want, but at the time of this report, the rate increases were expected to move up over 13 percent. In fact, Kreidler expected the rate increase, saying “The requested rate changes are not a surprise, as we expected insurers to make adjustments based on their earlier predictions compared to who actually signed up and what services they used.”

Then, earlier in the year, the rate jumps went from 13 percent to over 22 percent. Again, this was before the subsidy payments ended by Trump. Yes, they were influenced by the lack of commitment, but uncodified subsidies would always leave uncertainty. And if Kreidler contends 10 percent of the increase is from a lack of subsidies, that still doesn’t address the entirety of the increase.

So where are the increases coming from? A combination of factors of which Trump’s lack of subsidy payments is the least influential.

Insurers are offering less coverage because, even with subsidies, they were losing money hand over fist with the requirements that they cover everyone who asked for coverage, without the ability to raise rates when they end up costing the insurer more. It’s why so many insurers have been choosing not to participate. To put the blame squarely on Trump, which Kreidler is attempting to do, is dishonest and pathetic.

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