Trump doesn’t need Congress to help him sabotage Obamacare
Repeal and replace is dead for now, but that won’t stop the White House from taking matters into its own hands.
Khatami, Elham. (2017, September 27, 2:43 pm). Think Progress.
Following the failure of the latest Republican health care bill, which couldn’t muster enough votes to pass, President Donald Trump took to Twitter on Wednesday to promise, yet again, to kill Obamacare.
Commentary
Now that the GOP Congress failed to pass Graham-Cassidy, we have to ask, “what’s next on their playlist?”
We already see a new strategy emerging: “Death By a Thousand Cuts.” Meaning “American deaths” caused by “a thousand budget cuts.”
Already the Trump Administration has:
- cut funding by nearly 50% to “navigator” programs that help people sign up for health insurance,
- slashed the advertising budget for open enrollment advertising by 90%,
- shut down Healthcare.gov for 12 hours on Sundays during open enrollment season,
- shortened the enrollment period by 6 weeks.
- destabilized the health insurance marketplace by threatening to cut “cost-sharing” health insurance companies
Taken together, these acts serve to substantially weaken Obamacare’s “reach.”
Even before Trump’s cuts, the number of uninsured Americans was rising according to a Gallup poll, as 2 million more people lost coverage between last quarter 2016 and second quarter 2017.
This bodes ill for the future because these losses are occurring among the most important demographic for the stability of the system overall: the young and healthy.
According to a July, 2017 Money magazine report by Tami Luhby:
The increase in the uninsured has been concentrated among young adults, ages 26 to 34, Gallup found. Their rate has jumped 1.5 percentage points since the end of last year. They may be most sensitive to rising premiums on coverage they may not use that much. Instead, they may prefer to pay the penalty.
This group had been among the largest beneficiaries of Obamacare since they were the group most likely to be eligible for subsidies. Their uninsured rate had fallen nearly 10 percentage points between the end of 2013 and 2016.
This demographic is also key to the health of the individual market since their premiums help offset the higher costs of those in their 50s and early 60s, who typically need more care. One of Obamacare’s shortcomings is that it didn’t attract as many younger enrollees as hoped.
The impact of an increase in the uninsured population has far-reaching implications for the financial and healthcare security of the uninsured themselves. For example, not having health insurance dramatically reduces access to care and the accumulation of medical debt, as detailed in a Kaiser Family Foundation analysis, Key Facts about the Uninsured Population (2017, September 19).
What about California?
California leaders remain committed to reducing our uninsured population. The state has stepped up to maintain the full 3 month open enrollment period and fill some of the gap in advertising funding. According to a California Healthline report by Julie Rovner on September 28, 2017:
In California, people shopping for 2018 coverage in the state’s exchange, Covered California, will still have the full three months they’ve had in recent years, starting on Nov. 1 and ending Jan. 31. And the state Legislature last week passed a bill, currently awaiting the signature of Gov. Jerry Brown, that would ensure a three-month enrollment window for consumers seeking coverage in 2019 and beyond.
California also parted ways with the federal government over advertising. The board of Covered California agreed last month to increase its marketing budget by $5.3 million, bringing the total to $111.5 million for 2017-18. The additional money will pay for more radio and television spots, and more direct mail to consumers.
While it’s good that the state is jumping in here to soften Trump’s blow, think about it. These stop-gap measures are only helping to delay the inevitable implosion of market-based health care.
Why inevitable? Because even with Obamacare, the cost of health insurance continues to rise, and health insurance companies continue to reduce their presence in the market, such as Anthem Blue Cross, which exacerbates premium increases by reducing competition.
For example, in 2017, Covered California buyers faced average premium increases of 13.2%, and in 2018, they face average increases of 12.5%. This means that in only 2 years, average premiums are going up over 25%!
Back-to-back double digit rate increases are unsustainable in anyone’s books. The cost of health insurance is eating us alive!
The Answer?
SB 562, The Healthy California Act would replace the shaky health insurance marketplace with a California-Medicare-for-All, single-payer system. Sponsored by the California Nurses Association, The Healthy California Act would extend coverage to all California residents while saving nearly $40 billion off what we’re paying today.
Learn more about The Healthy California Act here.
If you agree that we need California Medicare for All, take action!
What YOU Can DO
> Tell your State Assemblymember to co-sponsor SB 562, The Healthy California Act!
> Sign our Open Letter to Governor Brown and Our Legislative Leaders!
Dear Governor Brown, Senate President Pro Tem DeLeón and Assembly Speaker Rendon:
Californians need and want guaranteed healthcare that covers everybody for everything for life!
We support the Healthy California Act introduced by Senator Ricardo Lara and co-sponsored by Senator Toni Atkins.
Help all Californians fight the heartless and cruel threats to our health care from Washington DC.
Let’s HEAL California with SB 562, the Healthy California Act!
Yours Truly,
