The Trump Administration Isn ' t Sabotaging ObamaCare--That Was Democrats

To the relief of many Democrats and the consternation of many Republicans, Congress will not be repealing ObamaCare this month. But that doesn ’t mean Democrats are riding high or that ObamaCare is doing well. Premiums are still rising rapidly (Miami Herald:  ”Obamacare Premiums in Florida to Rise 45 Percent on Average Next Year”), insurers are still leaving the Exchanges (Healthcare Marketplace: “Nearly Half of the Country Left with One Carrier Option in 2018”), and ObamaCare coverage is still becoming a worse and worse deal for the sick (Wall Street Journal/yours truly: “How ObamaCare Punishes the Sick”). Now that repeal is no longer an immediate threat, the conversation has naturally turned to who ’s to blame for ObamaCare’s failings. Democrats claim everything was going swimmingly until the Trump administration came along and began sabotaging the law. The funny thing about that line of attack is that’s if it were true, then Democrats’ real complaint would be thatvoters are sabotaging ObamaCare.But it ’s not true—and reporters should stop repeating this partisan line of attack as if it were. Here are five crucial points:The Trump administration is not causing the instability we are seeing in the Exchanges —ObamaCare is. Specifically, ObamaCare ’s community rating price controls have both unleashed adverse selection (sick people enroll, healthy people don’t) and are making coverage worse for the sick (as insurers use plan design to deter th...
Source: Cato-at-liberty - Category: American Health Authors: Source Type: blogs