Spring into Obamacare Schadenfreude

Spring is here, and Obamacare is going about as well as we conservatives predicted six years ago.

It's covering fewer people than expected, and even fewer than the last time we checked: CBO cuts Obamacare enrollment projection.

The congressional budget office has revised its Obamacare enrollment target for 2016 downward by a million people. This is the second such downgrade the CBO has issued in 2016. The Hill reports:

About 12 million people are now expected to have ObamaCare coverage by the end of 2016, according to the nonpartisan budget office. Just three months ago, the office had predicted that 13 million people would have coverage.
The latest enrollment estimate is an even steeper drop from the CBO’s estimates from 2015, which predicted 21 million people would have marketplace coverage by this time.

The enrollment after the end of the last enrollment period was 12.7 million. At first glance it may sound as if Obamacare is exceeding the CBO’s new, lower expectations. However, as I noted earlier this month, there has been a steep drop off in the number of people who sign up for coverage at the beginning of the year over the months that follow. In 2015 that drop off was a full 25 percent.

If the enrollment numbers see a similar drops off in 2016 (25%) then the enrollment at the end of this year will be around 9.5 million. That’s well below the revised CBO estimate and even falls below the dramatically lowered HHS estimate of 10 million.

But that's OK, right, because the Administration is planning on expanding the mess: White House to lay out 'next chapter' for ObamaCare

“It’s important to lay out the next chapter in the [Affordable Care Act] — building a healthcare system that puts patients at the center and works better for all Americans,” the official said.

And costing more: Why Obamacare Premiums Are Climbing All Over US

The main reason many insurers are raising premiums this year is because they are experiencing higher than expected costs.

This update implies that the people currently signed up in the plans are less healthy than what was anticipated by the company when calculating what to charge for premiums last year.

Ah yes, the death spiral. If only someone had warned them!

And I'm sure this has nothing to do with it. ObamaCare Turns 6 — $55 Billion In Waste, So Far. Even Hillary Cheslea is complaining about Obamacare's costs. We gotta fix Obamacare’s crushing costs, says … Chelsea Clinton.

And, via Wombat-socho's "In The Mailbox: 03.24.16" Pepsi, Visa, and Chevron are Exempt From HHS Mandate, But Little Sisters of the Poor are Not…

Why do they hate the nuns, and exempt soft drinks, banks and big oil? They hate the Christian religion more.