Support for the Affordable Care Act continues to dwindle, especially among retiring Democrats. And Rep. Jim Moran (D-Va.) is the latest to express his doubts about the healthcare law, saying he doesn’t believe enough Millennials will sign up for Obamacare, putting the success of it at risk.
The Virginia Democrat, who announced his plans to retire earlier this month, spoke with Washington, D.C.’s, WAMU 88.5 about the flaws with the Affordable Care Act — a law that he both supported and voted for. Moran spoke specifically about young Americans’ participation in President Barack Obama’s signature healthcare law, saying he has his doubts about whether Obamacare will succeed.
“I’m afraid that the Millennials, if you will, are less likely to sign up,” Moran told NPR. “I think they feel more independent. I think they feel even a little more invulnerable than prior generations. But I don’t think we’re going to get enough young people signing up to make this bill work as it was intended to financially.”
Approximately 2.7 million 18- to 34-year-olds need to sign up for health insurance via Obamacare’s health insurance marketplaces in order for the law to succeed. Should the number of young enrollees fall short of that threshold, the Affordable Care Act faces a significant risk of a “death spiral,” a phenomenon that occurs when too many older, sicker people sign up for health insurance as compared to the number who are younger and healthier. If a death spiral occurs, premiums increase for all in the insurance pool.
Moran, an ally of House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), said Millennials have little incentive to sign up for coverage under the Affordable Care Act.
“And, frankly, there’s some legitimacy to their concern because the government spends about $7 for the elderly for every $1 it spends on the young,” he said.
Under Obamacare, young Americans could see premiums increase an average of 260 percent. If 18- to 34-year-olds choose not to purchase health insurance, as the law requires, they instead face a $95 fee — a monetary penalty which has Millennials opting not to buy insurance.
According to the American Action Forum, 6 out of 7 young Americans would find it more financially advantageous to instead pay the $95 penalty in 2014 than purchase health insurance under Obamacare.
In a Sept. 12, 2013 statement, Moran praised the Affordable Care Act for reining in rising healthcare costs. But now, the Virginia Democrat says there are little solutions for helping the millions of Americans negatively affected by the law.
“I just don’t know how we’re going to do it frankly,” he said. “If we had a solution, I’d be telling the president right now.”
According to recently released figures from the Department of Health and Human Services, only 24 percent of individuals who selected plans through Obamacare’s marketplaces are between the ages of 18 and 34. The Obama administration projected 40 percent would enroll by March 31, the end of the open enrollment period.
Moran has been an ardent supporter of the president’s signature law, even going so far as to defend Obama after he came under fire for telling the American people, “if you like your plan, you can keep it.”
While appearing on MSNBC late last year, the 12-term congressman excused Obama, saying presidents “sometimes engage in a little hyperbole” and that “we’re all human.”
Listen to Moran’s statements on Obamacare here.
