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Townhall
Coming
Obamacare Attraction: Summertime "Premium Hike Drumbeat"
Guy
Benson
May
23, 2014
The
Hill previews healthcare consumers' upcoming summer slog, and it
isn't pretty for Democrats:
States
are nailing down dates to release 2015 premium costs under ObamaCare,
and their decisions will guarantee a drumbeat of news about rate
hikes all the way to the November midterm elections. Democrats are
bracing for grim headlines that could put the unpopular law back at
the forefront of voters’ minds. Premiums are expected to go up in a
majority of states, as they do every year, but the size of the
increases could go a long way toward determining how much political
damage ObamaCare inflicts on vulnerable Democratic lawmakers. A
survey by The Hill of state insurance commissioners found that news
about ObamaCare premiums will hit nearly every week this summer (see
list below), providing ample opportunity for Republicans to attack
any significant premium hikes.
Prepare
your spin teams, Senators Landrieu, Pryor, Hagan, Udall, etc:
A
slew of states will publish proposed prices in June, including
Colorado and Louisiana — where the GOP is targeting Democratic
Senate incumbents. Others will wait until later in the season,
including West Virginia and Arkansas. Sen. Mark Pryor (D-Ark.) voted
for the Affordable Care Act in 2010, a fact that his opponent, Rep.
Tom Cotton (R-Ark.), has repeatedly raised. Sen. Kay Hagan (D-N.C.),
a top GOP target, will see her state publish rates on Aug. 15 or
later. Health rates on the individual and small-group markets usually
attract little to no attention from the political press. This year
will be different.
We've
written about initial rate increase estimates in Virginia and
Washington State; now premium hikes in places like Hawaii (at least
13 percent), Indiana (up to 46 percent) and Rhode Island (12 percent)
are coming into clearer focus. President Obama and Congressional
Democrats promised skeptical consumers that everyone's rates would go
down under Obamacare, by an average of $2,500 per family. Instead,
according to McClatchy, "most" insurers are expected to
increase costs, in some cases by double digits. Local media reports
are highlighting adversely impacted citizens...
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the rest of this article at Townhall
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