If anyone tried to describe the stated goal of Obamacare in one phrase, it would undoubtedly be "to provide health insurance coverage for the previously uninsured Americans." The main point for the laws supporters during the debates about it was that there were 47 million uninsured Americans who were "one illness away from bankruptcy" and who needed help. Since the law has gone into full effect, there have been strong indications that it was failing to achieve its stated goal, but that conclusion was not based upon hard evidence. This is now changing; we are getting hard numbers that show that the law has failed.
First of all, we know that according to the government, there were roughly 2.1 million people who selected insurance policies from the Obamacare exchanges by the end of 2013. These are not people who actually bought insurance, just those who put an insurance choice in their "basket" on the website. Only some of those who selected insurance policies actually went ahead and bought them.
Second, we now know that across America, of those who bought insurance, only 11% were previously uninsured. The other 89% of those purchasing policies were either replacing policies lost to cancellation or just switching from one plan to another for some other reason. This means that of the 2.1 million who selected policies, even if all of them bought insurance (which they did not), the number of newly insured folks is at most 231,000 (which is 11% of 2.1 million). Since we also know that less than half of those who selected policies actually bought them, the number of newly insured is something more like 100,000 for all of 2013.
To put this into perspective, the stated goal of the federal government under Obamacare was to sell insurance to about 3.3 million newly insured people during 2013. The actual results mean that the exchanges sold insurance to new buyers at a rate of only 3% of the goal.
Third, we also know that those signing up for Medicaid are not enough to make much of a difference in this conclusion. During the last three months of 2013 when the Medicaid rules were relaxed due to Obamacare, the majority of the new signups were in states where those rules were not changed. Even in the states where the rules changed, the bulk of the people who signed up met the old criteria. The number of people who qualified for new coverage under Medicaid due to Obamacare is about 400,000.
If you put this all together, you find that in 2013, Obamacare managed to get insurance to about half a million new people. The number is appallingly small. But that is not the end of the story. We also know that over seven million people had their policies cancelled due to Obamacare. We do not know for certain what percentage of these folks ended up without coverage as a result and how many obtained replacement policies. We do know, however, that if only 10% of those whose policies were cancelled ended up without coverage, then the number of newly uninsured is 700,000, a figure larger than the number of those who gained coverage.
Obamacare has managed during 2013 to REDUCE the number of people with insurance. America has faced enormous upset and confusion, massive expense, major intrusions on personal liberty, and another major drain on the treasury for Obamacare and the law does not do anything to increase the number of covered Americans. Indeed, Obamacare makes the problem of the uninsured worse.
First of all, we know that according to the government, there were roughly 2.1 million people who selected insurance policies from the Obamacare exchanges by the end of 2013. These are not people who actually bought insurance, just those who put an insurance choice in their "basket" on the website. Only some of those who selected insurance policies actually went ahead and bought them.
Second, we now know that across America, of those who bought insurance, only 11% were previously uninsured. The other 89% of those purchasing policies were either replacing policies lost to cancellation or just switching from one plan to another for some other reason. This means that of the 2.1 million who selected policies, even if all of them bought insurance (which they did not), the number of newly insured folks is at most 231,000 (which is 11% of 2.1 million). Since we also know that less than half of those who selected policies actually bought them, the number of newly insured is something more like 100,000 for all of 2013.
To put this into perspective, the stated goal of the federal government under Obamacare was to sell insurance to about 3.3 million newly insured people during 2013. The actual results mean that the exchanges sold insurance to new buyers at a rate of only 3% of the goal.
Third, we also know that those signing up for Medicaid are not enough to make much of a difference in this conclusion. During the last three months of 2013 when the Medicaid rules were relaxed due to Obamacare, the majority of the new signups were in states where those rules were not changed. Even in the states where the rules changed, the bulk of the people who signed up met the old criteria. The number of people who qualified for new coverage under Medicaid due to Obamacare is about 400,000.
If you put this all together, you find that in 2013, Obamacare managed to get insurance to about half a million new people. The number is appallingly small. But that is not the end of the story. We also know that over seven million people had their policies cancelled due to Obamacare. We do not know for certain what percentage of these folks ended up without coverage as a result and how many obtained replacement policies. We do know, however, that if only 10% of those whose policies were cancelled ended up without coverage, then the number of newly uninsured is 700,000, a figure larger than the number of those who gained coverage.
Obamacare has managed during 2013 to REDUCE the number of people with insurance. America has faced enormous upset and confusion, massive expense, major intrusions on personal liberty, and another major drain on the treasury for Obamacare and the law does not do anything to increase the number of covered Americans. Indeed, Obamacare makes the problem of the uninsured worse.
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