ObamaCare: health insurance for the little people

In a weekend appearance on Las Vegas PBS’s “Vegas Week in Review,” Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nevada, not only admitted that ObamaCare is designed to fail; but he also admitted that the law is one step toward a single-payer health care system. This admission should be added to the growing pile of ObamaCare’s broken promises. Just as many of the law’s...

In a weekend appearance on Las Vegas PBS’s “Vegas Week in Review,” Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nevada, not only admitted that ObamaCare is designed to fail; but he also admitted that the law is one step toward a single-payer health care system. This admission should be added to the growing pile of ObamaCare’s broken promises.

Just as many of the law’s most ardent supporters have received waivers from key provisions of the law, some are now seeking additional changes and exemptions on the basis that the law will impose heavy financial costs and force many into different, less generous health insurance plans.

Meanwhile, members of Congress quietly received an exemption from the law that will leave their gold-plated health plans intact. Unfortunately, average Illinoisans do not seem to wield enough political power to receive the same preferential treatment.

According to a recent study by Milliman, a leading actuarial and consulting firm, average individual (non-group) market health insurance premium increases in Illinois under ObamaCare could range from 20 to 60 percent over the next year. While about half of the currently uninsured and those already purchasing coverage in the individual market could be eligible for federal subsidies for coverage purchased through the exchange, the study estimates a 35 to 40 percent increase in premiums for coverage purchased both inside and outside the state exchange as a direct result of the new law. It should be noted that these predicted increases are the result of the new law alone, and would be in addition to routine annual premium increases.

Furthermore, Illinois state officials’ predictions that up to 400 commercial insurance products could be offered through the state health exchange turned out to be overly optimistic. Only 165 plans operated by six insurance carriers were submitted to the state for review, leaving Illinois consumers with far fewer coverage choices than promised.

The best case scenario for Illinois is that ObamaCare is delayed or defunded in Washington, D.C.. Short of that outcome, Illinois lawmakers on both sides of the aisle should immediately send Gov. Pat Quinn legislation seeking federal waiver (similar to the one recently sought by Massachusetts lawmakers) that would shield the state’s businesses and consumers from the most damaging provisions of ObamaCare.

If Illinois lawmakers are unwilling to take this important step, citizens should immediately and loudly demand that state lawmakers participate in the same health care exchange that they are complicit in creating.