In other words, Obamacare has been an engine of insurance premium inflation. Democrats have tried to cover up that fact with ever more taxpayer subsidies. Yet another round of subsidies will not fix that fundamental problem.
Rising premiums were not some unexpected consequence of Obamacare. They were baked into the law’s very structure. Because of Obamacare’s long list of federal insurance market regulations, insurers had no choice but to raise prices to cover their costs.
As Johns Hopkins University professor Ge Bai wrote in a recent Wall Street Journal op-ed, “The inflationary provisions of the Affordable Care Act—such as the medical loss ratio, mandated ‘essential’ benefits, community rating and premium subsidies—have inhibited insurers from offering affordable and flexible options.”
Community rating—which bans insurers from charging older, sicker patients more than three times what they charge younger, healthier ones—is a major driver of premium inflation. As is the ten “essential” health benefits requirement, which mandates that all plans cover the same list of services and procedures, regardless of what a patient actually needs or wants.
Guaranteed issue—the requirement that insurers sell to all comers, regardless of their health status or age—is another reason why Obamacare inflated premiums from the get-go.
———
more.