Democratic Governor Calls Obamacare Unaffordable

Minnesota governor Mark Dayton liked it, but couldn’t keep it—his staunch support of Obamacare, that is, which he dropped on Wednesday with a tough assessment of the law.

Dayton, previously one of the Affordable Care Act’s biggest advocates at the state level, called the law unaffordable during a news conference, the Associated Press reports:

“The reality is the Affordable Care Act is no longer affordable for increasing numbers of people,” Dayton said, calling on Congress to fix the law to address rising costs and market stability. … Few states embraced the health care law stronger than Minnesota under Dayton, where lawmakers created a state-run online market exchange for shoppers who aren’t covered by employers or public programs to buy individual coverage. When those policies first went on sale in 2013, Dayton and state officials proudly touted the lowest health insurance rates in the nation. But after several years of steadily increasing premiums, top state regulators said this fall that Minnesota’s individual market is in “a state of emergency.” The state scrambled to stop all seven companies that sell insurance directly to consumers or through the state exchange, MNsure, from fleeing for 2017, but the state’s largest insurer is still exiting.

Obamacare exchanges across the nation have been leaking insurers, with four states confirmed to have only one carrier in 2017, the Washington Examiner reported. Several others will have only two.

Dayton’s comments follow those of former President Bill Clinton, who, citing small businesses and middle-income Americans, called the law’s consequences “the craziest thing in the world” during a public appearance last week.

Read more from the AP here.

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