O’Care Death Spiral Blues

ObamaCare took another step toward implosion Tuesday, as Humana announced it’s fully pulling out of the exchanges come next year. It’s the largest provider yet to flee, on the heels of big names like Cigna and UnitedHealth Group.

And while Aetna hasn’t yet given up, CEO Mark Bertolini told Politico that the muchfeared “death spiral” is fully under way: High prices are driving young, healthy people to pass on buying insurance — which leaves insurers forced to raise premiums even more to break even (if they don’t quit the market altogether), which then drives even more kids to go without coverage.

The latest enrollment period was the first to see fewer new signups than the year before. It won’t be the last.

Humana had already cut its participation in the exchanges to 11 states from 15; it quit altogether because it’s “seeing further signs of an unbalanced risk pool” — meaning, again, that not enough young folks are paying in.

Yes, Blue Cross/Blue Shield is still in the game — but ObamaCare’s authors relied on competition between private insurers to make the system work. Now, more and more states will see only one company offering exchange plans — and some, warns Bertolini, may see no insurers willing to play as soon as next year.

“It’s not going to get any better; it’s getting worse,” says the Aetna CEO.

Democrats are still busy warning of the horrors to come if ObamaCare’s replaced. Funny: If Republicans truly were heartless, they’d give all those town-meeting protesters what they’re demanding, and leave the thing in place ’til it dies of its own weight.

Except that’s not what they’ve promised to do, nor why the voters sent them to Congress. They have a duty to the American people to settle on a rational ObamaCare replacement — and fast.