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Death Spiral: Obamacare enrollment must double this year to meet budget goals
American Thinker ^ | 09/14/2015 | Rick Moran

Posted on 09/14/2015 9:50:43 AM PDT by SeekAndFind

Enrollment in Obamacare insurance plans must double over the next year if budget projections by the Congressional Budget Office are to be met.

An article in the Washington Times shows enrollment lagging far behind original estimates of where the program should be by 2016, and this will have unknown effects on the trillion dollar projection for the program's cost by 2020.

As of June, the Department of Health and Human Services counted 9.9 million customers who have bought plans through the federal HealthCare.gov portal and a handful of state-run exchanges.

That puts the administration ahead of it’s own estimates for 2015, but is less than half what the Congressional Budget Office projected for 2016, showing just how much work officials have ahead of them as the next round of enrollment begins in less than two months.

Note: HHS revised those numbers downward 3 times between 2012 and 2015, deliberately lowballing the estimates so they could crow about achieving their goal. 

“The substantial increase in penalties under the individual mandate next year is a big wild card,” said Larry Levitt, a senior vice president at the Kaiser Family Foundation, a nonpartisan health policy organization. “We’re in unchartered territory here about how effective these bigger penalties will be in nudging people to get insured.”

“The marketplaces are working,” Mr. Levitt added, “but higher enrollment would both improve the insurance risk pool and reduce the number of Americans uninsured.”

The individual mandate was included in the Affordable Care Act of 2010 to make sure enough healthy Americans signed up, spreading out the costs for higher-risk customers.


(Excerpt) Read more at americanthinker.com ...


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Culture/Society; Government; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: 0carenightmare; aca; obamacare; obamacaredisaster; obamacareenrollment

1 posted on 09/14/2015 9:50:43 AM PDT by SeekAndFind
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To: SeekAndFind

Obamacare will fall apart but of course it won’t completely until Obama is getting his monthly retirement check. Such a shame. Romney as bad as he was would be been better then Obama.


2 posted on 09/14/2015 9:54:31 AM PDT by napscoordinator (Walker for President 2016. The only candidate with actual real RESULTS!!!!! The rest...talkers!)
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To: SeekAndFind

No big deal. Just another $10+ trillion to pile on the $100 trillion or so of unfunded entitlement liabilities that the US Welfare State has racked up. Once you’re in debt so deep that you’ll never dig out, who cares how much more you load on as long as you have a sucker willing to keep lending to you?


3 posted on 09/14/2015 9:55:32 AM PDT by Opinionated Blowhard ("When the people find they can vote themselves money, that will herald the end of the republic.")
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To: SeekAndFind

I’m sure they will fudge the numbers or do some other lawless tweak to make sure they are met.


4 posted on 09/14/2015 10:04:57 AM PDT by mothball
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To: SeekAndFind
Well if the Washington Crime Syndicate (i.e. the RINOS + the Democrats) has its way, they'll "re-fund" it.

Trump can't get in there too fast!

5 posted on 09/14/2015 10:18:33 AM PDT by Savage Beast (We the People OF THE UNITED STATESÂ…do ordain and establish this Constitution FOR THE UNITED STATES.)
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To: Opinionated Blowhard

No worries -
Since Obola is hoping to crash the economy, resulting unemployed hordes will sign up in for coverage in the taxpayer funded ACA.
Fundamental transformation mov’in right along...


6 posted on 09/14/2015 10:21:18 AM PDT by MarchonDC09122009 (When is our next march on DC? When have we had enough?)
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To: napscoordinator
Romney as bad as he was would be been better then Obama.

Except that we would be stuck with him again 2016.


7 posted on 09/14/2015 10:24:09 AM PDT by 867V309 (Trump: Bull in a RINO Shoppe)
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To: SeekAndFind

Easy as pie. They will just lie about the enrollment figures some more.


8 posted on 09/14/2015 10:28:07 AM PDT by Pearls Before Swine
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To: SeekAndFind

Not only will they lie about the enrollment figures, they’ll jawbone the insurance companies to try and price-control the rates, for those who actually pay.


9 posted on 09/14/2015 10:34:39 AM PDT by Pearls Before Swine
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To: SeekAndFind

10 posted on 09/14/2015 10:49:31 AM PDT by AngelesCrestHighway
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