Washington has now become one of just two states with negative enrollment in 2015 for state-run healthcare exchanges, missing the mark by 30% in signups. The socialist-esque Healthplanfinder is going to end up costing our taxpayers even more money than predicted – and all we’ve gotten from the state exchange is a series of excuses.
Healthplanfinder, the Washington arm of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), has seen a 2% decrease in enrollment since 2014 – ranking second in the nation for lowest growth rate. Avalere Health, the company responsible for analyzing healthcare exchanges progress, is now “questioning why state-run exchanges did so much worse” than expected, according to manager Chris Sloan.
READ ALSO: WA health exchange well below Obamacare goal
The answer? When liberals promised Obamacare would fix all of our healthcare problems and raised money by levying taxes and fees – what they failed to mention is that they were going to give subsidies to over 3/4 of the recipients.
In response – spokesperson for Healthplanfinder, Michael Marchand, has given the typical liberal excuses and blamed anybody but the exchange itself. Marchand claims the analysis of exchange enrollments “was a pretty narrow parameter to define success”.
The truth? Liberals have set our state up for economic failure. At some point, the federal-funded budget will run out. 77 percent of people receiving healthcare from the state-run exchange are on subsidies, meaning Democrats have vastly underestimated what this program will cost taxpayers going into 2016. There seems to be little chance of self sufficiency for the healthcare program by the goal date of January 1, 2016.
Yet rather than attempting to solve the problem by cutting down on subsidies or taking action, the Public Health Department in Seattle & King County seems to be determined to sidestep the blame and resist taking action. Daphne Pie, manager of the outreach organizations, has said Healthplanfinder “was a new process, and I think that’s where the state is getting lower numbers”.
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Pie has also stated the problem with the implementation of the state-run exchange is “not a reality until people get their taxes done and realize they need health insurance”. What Pie is admitting, is that Obamacare has taken advantage of people who are too busy with their own lives to investigate the effects of an enormous healthcare law – and in the long run it is going to cost both the individual and the state.
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