With Affordable Care Act, status quo cannot continue

AFTER fits and starts, the U.S. House of Representatives has advanced legislation substantially altering and rolling back the Affordable Care Act. Democrats wail that widespread devastation awaits. Yet Democrats ignore the fact that Obamacare is collapsing and lives are going to be disrupted no matter what.

Insurers are already announcing huge rate increases or warning of withdrawal from Obamacare exchanges. Recent regulatory filings in Virginia and Maryland revealed several insurers are seeking major increases for 2018 Affordable Care Act exchange plans. Anthem Inc. is seeking an average premium increase of 37.7 percent in Virginia. CareFirst BlueCross BlueShield filed for a 52 percent increase in Maryland and a 35 percent increase in Virginia. Cigna Corp. is requesting a 44.7 percent increase for Virginia exchange plans, and 37 percent in Maryland. And officials at Cigna and Anthem both indicate they may still pull out of the Virginia exchanges altogether.

Virginia and Maryland have earlier filing deadlines than many states and highlight the dramatic premium increases likely to come nationwide.

Officials with the insurer Medica have announced they may withdraw from Iowa’s exchange next year. Aetna plans to leave Virginia’s exchange in 2018. In February, Humana announced it is withdrawing from all state exchanges.

Medica’s announcement could mean Iowa natives will have no insurance providers in that state’s exchange after Aetna and Wellmark Blue Cross & Blue Shield both announced their exits earlier this year.

Oklahoma is among the states with a shaky Obamacare exchange, as noted by U.S. Rep. Frank Lucas, R-Cheyenne, in a release touting his support for the House repeal measure.

“Several states, including Oklahoma, are down to only one insurance provider on their state exchange and health premiums continue to rise at a staggering rate,” Lucas said.

Even when people can find and afford Obamacare coverage offered through a state exchange, the ACA’s many mandates have forced insurers to dramatically restrict provider networks and impose large deductibles to control costs. The result is that even when people get coverage they can still struggle to pay for health care or access the best doctors.

In addition to exchanges, the ACA also increased coverage by adding millions to Medicaid, the state-federal welfare program. But Medicaid pays providers well below market rates. As a result, the best doctors don’t take Medicaid patients or at least limit those numbers.

And several states that expanded Medicaid have since struggled with paying the state share of dramatically rising costs associated with the program.

For several years, Democrats decried ACA opponents who did not offer an alternative plan. Now House Republicans have advanced one and the script has been flipped. It’s now incumbent on Democrats to explain how they would overhaul and reform Obamacare in a fiscally prudent fashion, because those who refuse to support reform are turning a blind eye to the chaos and hardship that is already underway and growing by the day.