New York Times columnist Paul Krugman is out with a column touting the great success of Obamacare. What it says is so idiotic, that I assume someone at the Democrat National Committee wrote it for Krugman. It's a remarkable bit of writing.
Krugman tells us how so many more people now have healthcare "coverage". For Krugman, that's a big deal. But then, even Krugman admits that lately there has been some bad news on the Obamacare front.
First, he admits that premiums are going up on Obamacare policies by 11% next year. He calls that a "slight disappointment". I'm not kidding. An 11% increase is just a "slight disappointment" to Krugman. Maybe if you are a person like Krugman who makes more than $250,000 per year, that increase in premiums is just a slight disappointment, but for the average American family, that price increase is dramatic and disastrous. Krugman then says that in the past premiums went up on average 5-10% per year, so 11% is nothing major. Of course, Krugman forgets that Obamacare was sold to the American people a something that would cut average premiums by $2500 per family. That cut in costs never materialized; instead there was an increase in cost. The 11% rise is on top of that previous rise. Krugman also covers up that it was those supposedly "intolerable" increases in premiums that were prime reasons for the passage of Obamacare. Simply put, Obamacare made the problem worse rather than helping solve it, but for the wealthy Mr. Krugman, that's just a slight disappointment.
Second, and even worse, Krugman admits to one of the most important deficits with the law. It spreads health insurance coverage but does not provide actual healthcare to people. Here's how Krugman puts it:
Some Americans who bought low-cost insurance plans have been unpleasantly surprised by high deductibles. This is a real issue, but it shouldn’t be exaggerated. All allowed plans cover preventive services without a deductible, and many plans cover other health services as well.
Understand what Krugman just said. The "preventive services" to which Krugman refers consist of one examination by a doctor per year. If you are a family of four and one of the children gets sick, you cannot go to see the doctor because you still have to pay for that visit and all your money is going to pay the high premiums on the insurance. Indeed, Krugman admits that many plans don't cover other health services until a huge deductible is paid. It's having health insurance but without the coverage that most people need.
Third, Krugman says that the expected withdrawal of United Healthcare from the exchanges is not important. The biggest health insurance company in the USA is pulling out, but Krugman says it's no big deal. How likely is it that other companies will decide that if United Health can pull out, so can they? It's a potential Obamacare disaster.
Last, Krugman says that fewer people are buying policies on the exchanges than expected. No problem says Krugman; that's because more employers are still providing health insurance than expected. Is he kidding? The projection by the government is that there will be between ten and eleven million policies sold this year on the exchanges. The government's previous projections called for more than twenty million to be sold this year. That's twice as many as the actual figure. Those ten million missing policies are mostly for people who would be lower risk/lower cost patients. That means that the remaining insurance pool will be higher risk/higher cost. It also means further premium increases above the already high levels in effect now. There's a good reason why half of the insurance cooperatives collapsed this year leaving more than a million people without coverage.
This is not a list of minor problems. The reality is that Obamacare is failing. It never did what the president promised it would, and things just keep getting worse. My guess is that even Paul Krugman understands that.
Krugman tells us how so many more people now have healthcare "coverage". For Krugman, that's a big deal. But then, even Krugman admits that lately there has been some bad news on the Obamacare front.
First, he admits that premiums are going up on Obamacare policies by 11% next year. He calls that a "slight disappointment". I'm not kidding. An 11% increase is just a "slight disappointment" to Krugman. Maybe if you are a person like Krugman who makes more than $250,000 per year, that increase in premiums is just a slight disappointment, but for the average American family, that price increase is dramatic and disastrous. Krugman then says that in the past premiums went up on average 5-10% per year, so 11% is nothing major. Of course, Krugman forgets that Obamacare was sold to the American people a something that would cut average premiums by $2500 per family. That cut in costs never materialized; instead there was an increase in cost. The 11% rise is on top of that previous rise. Krugman also covers up that it was those supposedly "intolerable" increases in premiums that were prime reasons for the passage of Obamacare. Simply put, Obamacare made the problem worse rather than helping solve it, but for the wealthy Mr. Krugman, that's just a slight disappointment.
Second, and even worse, Krugman admits to one of the most important deficits with the law. It spreads health insurance coverage but does not provide actual healthcare to people. Here's how Krugman puts it:
Some Americans who bought low-cost insurance plans have been unpleasantly surprised by high deductibles. This is a real issue, but it shouldn’t be exaggerated. All allowed plans cover preventive services without a deductible, and many plans cover other health services as well.
Understand what Krugman just said. The "preventive services" to which Krugman refers consist of one examination by a doctor per year. If you are a family of four and one of the children gets sick, you cannot go to see the doctor because you still have to pay for that visit and all your money is going to pay the high premiums on the insurance. Indeed, Krugman admits that many plans don't cover other health services until a huge deductible is paid. It's having health insurance but without the coverage that most people need.
Third, Krugman says that the expected withdrawal of United Healthcare from the exchanges is not important. The biggest health insurance company in the USA is pulling out, but Krugman says it's no big deal. How likely is it that other companies will decide that if United Health can pull out, so can they? It's a potential Obamacare disaster.
Last, Krugman says that fewer people are buying policies on the exchanges than expected. No problem says Krugman; that's because more employers are still providing health insurance than expected. Is he kidding? The projection by the government is that there will be between ten and eleven million policies sold this year on the exchanges. The government's previous projections called for more than twenty million to be sold this year. That's twice as many as the actual figure. Those ten million missing policies are mostly for people who would be lower risk/lower cost patients. That means that the remaining insurance pool will be higher risk/higher cost. It also means further premium increases above the already high levels in effect now. There's a good reason why half of the insurance cooperatives collapsed this year leaving more than a million people without coverage.
This is not a list of minor problems. The reality is that Obamacare is failing. It never did what the president promised it would, and things just keep getting worse. My guess is that even Paul Krugman understands that.
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