President Trump made a point of talking about Obamacare in Kentucky during his address — knowing that the Democratic response would be given by former Kentucky Gov. Steve Beshear, who had enthusiastically embraced Obamacare before Republicans took over the state government.
Obamacare premiums nationwide have increased by double and triple digits. As an example, Arizona went up 116 percent last year alone. Governor Matt Bevin of Kentucky just said Obamacare is failing in his State — it is unsustainable and collapsing. One third of counties have only one insurer on the exchanges –- leaving many Americans with no choice at all. Remember when you were told that you could keep your doctor, and keep your plan? We now know that all of those promises have been broken.
Trump is right about much of this — although the question of how Obamacare is doing in Kentucky depends on how you want to measure it.
Yes, the Medicaid expansion dramatically increased nominal insurance coverage, cutting the uninsured rate by more than half. As Beshear put it, “we found health coverage for half a million Kentuckians.”
But it’s a lot harder to measure whether those newly covered can actually get a doctor’s appointment in anything like timely fashion, or whether those previously insured have seen a decline in quality of their coverage.
We do know those in that latter group are paying a lot more for plans with higher deductibles, and have fewer choices for insurance than they used to. Starting in 2017, Kentuckians in 54 counties — and all counties in western Kentucky — will have no choice of insurer on the exchange. There will be only one insurer available. In 48 other counties, there are two. Twelve counties have three insurers to choose from, and just six have four.
The shift toward fewer participating insurers was swift and dramatic between last year and this one. The number went from seven in 2016 to just three this year. And that doesn’t include the collapse of the state’s insurance co-op, which occurred before 2016.
And overall, individual market health insurance premiums in Kentucky rose an average of 24.5 percent between 2016 and 2017. Which is to say, the burdens of Obamacare — and this is one of the bill’s features, and a design flaw — are all being shifted small sliver of Kentuckians (nationwide it’s less than 10 percent) who buy their insurance in the individual market.
