In the News

A new report from the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) details the #RateShock Americans across the country have experienced under the so-called “Affordable Care Act.”

According to the report, which uses the data the Obama administration relied on, “average exchange premiums were 105 percent higher in the 39 states using Healthcare.gov in 2017 than average individual market premiums in 2013.”

The report includes data from 2013, a benefit year that has not been captured in analyses. In addition to this previously unreported data, Americans now have a more complete picture of just how catastrophic Obamacare has been for patients on the exchanges.

In regards to premiums, “average monthly premiums increased from $224 in 2013 to $476 in 2017.” Of the 39 states using Healthcare.gov, 62 percent saw 2017 exchange premiums that at least doubled the 2013 average.

Why does 2013 matter so much? It paints a fuller picture of the Obamacare landscape – where premiums first began under the law. Today’s premiums are starkly higher, and they’re only amplified by fleeing insurers. Don’t even mention the CO-OPs (there’s only five left, in case you’re not counting).

The data reflects the real stories of patients under Obamacare. Like those in Alaska with an average monthly premium of $1,041 this year – up from $314 in 2013 – a 203 percent increase. Or patients in Oklahoma, who will only have one insurance provider next year, saw an average monthly premium of $620 this year – up from $206 in 2013 – a 201 percent increase.

Remember when President Obama promised the health care law would lower premiums by $2,500 per household? His own data tells another story – families are paying radically more.

House Republicans have passed the American Health Care Act (AHCA), a bill to repeal Obamacare’s most onerous mandates and rebuild our health care system, based on a plan that will lower premiums and other out-of-pocket costs that have come to weigh on patients.

It’s time to put patients first.