Senator Kay Hagan stated in an interview, North
Carolina ranks near the top in Obamacare signups. Here is her spin:
“The people in North
Carolina have the fifth-highest signup on the exchanges, after Florida, New
York, California and Texas, it’s North Carolina, so they’re very interested in
this,” Hagan said. “We want to show that the Affordable Care Act is something whose
time has come. It’s going to really change how the cost of health care will not
have these huge increases that we’ve been seeing every year.”
But here is what she conveniently
omitted, as reported by Katherine Restrepo of the John Locke Foundation:
According
to the Obama administration, 3.3 million individuals
have gone shopping for an Obamacare plan in the individual health insurance
market. It turns out, however, that more than 89% of these individuals already had insurance. They
just couldn't keep their old plans because they did not comply with the law's
standards for health coverage. Even if they liked them. Insurers
refer to this scenario as "churning."
Here's
North Carolina's breakdown:
· 160,000 individuals have selected a
marketplace plan from either BCBS or Coventry Health Care of the Carolinas
· 25% are ages 18-34
· 30% are ages 55-64
· 72% are silver plans
· 90% qualify for a premium assistance subsidy
When
glancing over some of these statistics, it looks like North Carolina's
enrollment process fares much better than other states'. After all, the
state currently ranks top five in enrollment numbers. Obamacare stalwarts
will say that the law is proving to be a success, since 90% of enrollees
qualify for taxpayer subsidies that will make their quality health plans
affordable -- even "free."
But
if you're a skeptic of the law, continue to be one. Let's unravel the
spin:
A
large reason why North Carolina leads the pack in enrollment is really because
legislatorsrightly rejected Obamacare's
optional Medicaid expansion. Many individuals who would otherwise have been
covered under the law's Medicaid expansion will instead have access to private
health plans offered on the exchange at minimal to no cost. Low-income
individuals living above 100% of the federal poverty level (FPL) will be one of
the few populations who actually benefit from the law. This population
contributes to so many enrollees (90%) qualifying for financial
assistance. The national average is 82%.
Obamacare's taxpayer-funded subsidies are substantial for the
near-poor and some of the near-elderly, but they do virtually nothing for most
of the young or the middle class. Obamacare's neglect of these two rather
significant groups opens up a huge political vulnerability. A 2017 Project study of
Obamacare's subsidies in the 50 largest American counties shows that a typical
26-year-old man who makes $35,000 would get no Obamacare subsidy whatsoever for
the cheapest-priced "bronze" plan. Nor would a 36-year-old woman who
is making that same $35,000.
Circling
back to the enrollment numbers, McKinsey & Company reports that North
Carolina has only met 56% of its
target. And this 160,000 number still remains inflated, as an individual
is not considered a true enrollee until his health insurance premium has been
paid. Insurers now report that 20% of individuals
have yet to pay or are waiting for their payment to accurately process, due to
the defective healthcare.gov website.
That’s
nothing to brag about Senator Kay Hagan.
