Lingering 0bamacare Schadenfreude

Is it realy the final Obamacare Schadenfreude for 2015? Stay tuned.

Obamacare plans put big dent in customers' wallets

A new study reveals that many Obamacare customers pay more than 10 percent of their incomes toward coverage. And the share of income eaten up can be much greater for some people, particularly if they use a lot of health services under their plan.

One in 10 Obamacare customers who earn between just two and five times the federal poverty level will have coverage costs that exceed 21 percent of their incomes, an analysis by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the Urban Institute found.

And the median Obamacare customer who earns in that range spends more than 10 percent of their income on monthly premiums and out-of-pocket health expenses, the analysis found.

If only someone had warned them. . .

Combining Clinton.com news and O-Care Schadenfreude: Hillary Admits Obamacare Means People Lose Full-Time Jobs



If only someone had warned them. . .

More in-depth analysis at HotAir.

Major Insurance Company Abandons Obamacare

Obamacare received a major blow this week when Cleveland-based insurance company HealthSpan announced it will no longer sell Affordable Care Act (ACA) health plans, is disbanding its physicians' network, and has notified its brokers it will stop paying commissions for small group and individual customers.

According to HealthSpan spokesman Chuck Heald, the ACA was a big money loser for the company:

HealthSpan will stop selling individual and small-group health plans on the ACA's exchanges to focus more on Medicare and employer plans, Heald said. HealthSpan jacked up premium rates for 2016 individual and small-group plans anywhere from 9% to 32% to account for the sicker-than-expected exchange population. HealthSpan also had to pay more than $17 million into the ACA's risk-adjustment program in 2014, which did not fit into its original forecast, and the insurer has estimated another $19 million in risk-adjustment payments to the government for 2015.

HealthSpan, which insured 166,600 ACA customers as of Sept. 30, has already laid off some of its employees responsible for servicing those accounts.

If only someone had warned them. . .

Administration spin turn signup failure into success: Federal Health-Insurance Exchanges See Nearly Six Million Apply for 2016 Coverage

Nearly six million people have signed up for 2016 insurance coverage on the federal exchanges since the November start of open enrollment, a pace that Obama administration officials said Friday outstrips last year’s and indicates the health law’s success.

Analysts had been concerned that higher premiums and deductibles might scare off new enrollees. But, according to the administration, 2.4 million of the roughly six million people who signed up as of Dec. 17 were new customers. Administration officials said that is about a third more than had signed up last year ahead of the deadline for coverage starting Jan. 1.

That's good right?

Sign-up trends are still below earlier projections, and the goals set by the architects of the law. When the law passed, more than 20 million people were expected to have coverage through the exchange by 2016, according to initial projections from the Congressional Budget Office. On Friday, the administration said it wasn’t ready to comment on whether the 10 million projection will be revised.

“I am still feeling concerned about low enrollment this year,” said Caroline Pearson, a senior vice president at Avalere Health. “Surely, the administration will hit its 10 million goal, but I am not sure enrollment will be a lot higher. I am not ready to call this a big success,” she said.

If only someone had warned them. . .