David Hogberg, Ph.D.
Many supporters of ObamaCare insisted that the health insurance exchanges created by the law would result in consumers having a greater choice among insurance policies and lower prices.
This study tests those claims by examining policies on the exchanges in metropolitan areas across 45 states for a single 27-year-old and a 57-year-old couple. It then compares those with the policies available in those same areas on eHealthInsurance.com (eHealth) and Finder.healthcare.gov (Finder) in 2013.
The results show that the claims that the ObamaCare exchanges would offer greater choice and lower prices did not hold up. A 27-year-old male had, on average, ten more policies to choose from on eHealth versus the exchange and 31 more on Finder. A 27-year-old female had an average of ten more insurance options on eHealth and 38 on Finder. There were an average of nine more policies on eHealth and 19 more on Finder for a 57-year-old couple.
Across all areas examined, the exchanges have resulted in a substantial reduction in choice. For 27-year-olds, there were 442 fewer policies on the exchanges versus eHealth, a drop of 18 percent. There were 1,306 fewer policies on the exchange versus Finder for 27-year-old males and 1,716 fewer for females, declines of 38 percent and 46 percent, respectively. For 57-year-old couples, there were 406 fewer policies on the exchanges compared to eHealth and 855 fewer versus Finder, drops of 18 percent and 31 percent, respectively.
Consumers also previously had more lower-cost options than they now have on the exchanges. A 27-year-old male had, on average, access to 32 policies on eHealth that cost less than the cheapest policy on the exchanges and 38 policies that cost less on Finder. There were an average of 18 cheaper policies on eHealth and 20 on Finder for a 27-year-old female. A 57-year-old couple had access to an average of 29 cheaper polices on eHealth compared to the lowest-cost policy on the exchange and 28 on Finder.
An examination of subsidies that consumers can receive to purchase insurance on the exchanges produced mixed results on costs. A 57-year-old couple earning $50,000 annually was usually eligible for a subsidy large enough that the price of the cheapest exchange policy was lower than the price of any policy on eHealth or Finder. But for a 27-year-old earning $25,000 annually, the subsidy was less potent. In fact, even after subsidy options were accounted for, 27-year-old males still had access to an average of 18 cheaper polices on both eHealth and Finder, while a 27-year-old female had access to an average of nine on eHealth and eight on Finder.
OBAMACARE EXPLAINED:
To insure the uninsured,
we make the insured uninsured.
THEN we make the formerly insured
pay more to become re-insured,
so we can insure the uninsured
for free.
This Care Act is quite simply the very model of Affordability.
This is where the Collective lectures the right about all the lies that Republicans told about ObamaCare.
Imagine for a minute when you hear arrogant leftists like Ezekiel Emmanuel say that you don’t need all the tests and choices when obtaining medical care, a similar situation in getting a haircut, or buying a car. After all, you really don’t need to have a haircut that is a style you feel is flattering. You just need your hair to be out of your eyes, right? You do not need a car that has anything other than wheels, a seat for the driver, a steering wheel and some headlights, right? You don’t really need food to taste appetizing, you just need the right balance of protein, fats and carbohydrates, right? Personal preference is nothing but a luxury, not really something important to the basic requirements, and the fact that some people may prefer different packaging for these things that would cost more than the basic requirements, and have the ability to pay more to have their preferences just isn’t fair since not everyone can afford such preferences. And golly, the only way to deal with this inherent unfairness, according to leftist ideology, is to limit everyone to the bare bones basics. And of course, only leftists are smart and fair enough to control everything to ensure fairness, and since that is such hard work, it seems only fair that tbe leftists should have special privileges for performing such a difficult task of rationing resources for the hoi polloi.
That is the bare bones definition of obamacare and the leftist effort to control medical care in the US. All the propaganda about “insuring tbe uninsured” is simply lying manipulation of those who cannot – or will not – see how the left is trying to put everyone into bondage.
@Nanny G: But, once the uninsured become insured, will they have to pay more before, eventually and inevitably, they become uninsured?