The Washington Health Benefit Exchange (WHBE) extended its open enrollment period in hopes of meeting its goal of 213,000 sign-ups—but, as with many expectations of Obamacare, the “hopes” didn’t bring the “change” the government bureaucrats promised. The state’s extended enrollment period ended last week, and this week the new numbers were made public. The many, many “glitch” troubled Washington exchange fell short of its goal by more than 20%.
Altogether, about 170,000 Washington residents purchased insurance through the state health care exchange this year. WHBE picked up an additional 16,000 people during the two-month open enrollment extension. Approximately 97,000 people renewed their insurance this year—meaning 130,000 people who purchased insurance last year decided not to renew their plan with our state’s Obamacare agency.
According to the Seattle Times, due to the failure to meet enrollment goals, “the premium assessment that goes to the exchange may rise.” – that translates into higher costs for people in the exchange. By the exchange’s current assessment, customers could expect to see an increase from the current rate of $4.19 per premium payment each month to as much as $13, “worst-case scenario.”
Michael Marchand, the exchange’s oft-used spin doctor, said the “exchange has also been revising its operating budget in an effort to require lower increases in assessments.” The exchange certainly has an interesting way of “revising its operating budget” to cut costs—after providing CEO Richard Onizuka a retroactive 13% salary increase last year.
Unfortunately, that’s not the only potential costs by the WHBE’s failure. As Shift reported, WHBE’s failure to attract paying customers—not Medicaid enrollees—adds strain to taxpayers who will carry the responsibility for the unmet costs to run the exchange. That’s because the exchange is funded through three mechanisms: “a tax on insurance premiums paid in the exchange, a tax on insurance companies selling policies in the exchange and state taxpayer money that funnels through the state Health Care Authority.” If the exchange’s enrollment goals are not met, the money from the premium tax and the insurance company tax is simply not there to meet costs.
While WHBE exchange has failed to attract paying customers, it has done quite well with new Medicaid enrollees. The Seattle Times reports that “over the past year and a half, Medicaid has added about half a million people to its rolls in the state, boosted by expanded Medicaid coverage under the Affordable Care Act.” Adding to problem of limited access to doctors who accept Medicaid patients, enrollment for Medicaid—called Washington Apple Health—is available year-round.
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