Obamacare Still Breaking Obama Admin Promises: Eligibility Not Properly Checked Healthcare Premiums Exploding

Today in Washington, D.C. - July 3, 2014
Congressional members are in their districts meeting with constituents and attending 4th of July events.

While it’s no surprise to most Americans anymore, this week marks yet another week of Obamacare failing to live up to the promises made by its creators and supporters.>

The New York Times wrote yesterday, “An independent audit of insurance exchanges established under the health care law has found that federal and state officials did not properly check the eligibility of people seeking coverage and applying for subsidies, the latest indication of unresolved problems at HealthCare.gov. In a report to Congress on Tuesday, the inspector general for the Department of Health and Human Services, Daniel R. Levinson, said that the exchanges, which enrolled eight million people, did not have adequate safeguards ‘to prevent the use of inaccurate or fraudulent information when determining eligibility.’ Moreover, in a companion report, the inspector general said that the government had been unable to verify much of the information reported by people applying for insurance coverage and financial assistance to help pay premiums. ‘As of the first quarter of 2014,’ Mr. Levinson said, ‘the federal marketplace was unable to resolve about 2.6 million of 2.9 million inconsistencies’ — 89 percent of the discrepancies — because its automated eligibility system was ‘not fully operational.’ Most of the discrepancies involved citizenship, immigration status or income.”

Two months ago, The Washington Post noted, “Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius promised to thoroughly vet the salary information that people submitted as part of their health insurance applications.”

Today, Business Insider writes, “Insurance companies operating in New York State's marketplace are expected to ask for double-digit premium hikes next year, according to new filings from the companies. Capital New York reports the average requested increase was 13%. The New York Post reports that number at about 12%. But the bigger insurers are seeking a bigger premium hike — according to Capital, the six most popular plans in New York are requesting an average increase of almost 15%. The Post reports that Excellus Health Plan, which has about 24,000 customers, is requesting a 19.7% hike.  MVP Health Plan, which has nearly 33,000 customers, is seeking a 19% increase. New York's largest insurer — Health Republic Insurance of New York, which has 68,000 customers — is requesting a 15% increase.”

Of course, Americans remember President Obama promising that “[f]amilies will save on their premiums” and “All this is going to lower premiums. It's going to make healthcare more affordable.”

Meanwhile, the state-based exchanges are still struggling to live up to the visions Democrats laid out for them. The Weekly Standard’s Daniel Halper notes a report from 9News in Denver where the station “reviews its state's Obamacare exchange and finds that it's ‘clunky, counterintuitive, and confusing.’ The site was built with a $179 million grant from the federal government, but even the sign in button doesn't work. ‘Clunky, counterintuitive, and confusing, that's the review of the website for Colorado's health care exchange written by 9News political reporter Brandon Rittiman,’ says the anchor. ‘Brandon managed to get a plan he and his family were happy with from the Connect for Helath Colorado but he argues that happened despite the state's website. For starters, the sign in button on the front page doesn't work. Here's what customer support told Brandon about that.’”

And then there’s the black hole that has been the failure of Oregon’s highly-touted exchange. Clearly one of the worst performances in the entire country, KGW-TV in Portland reported last week that exchange staff are getting over $650,000 bonuses anyway. “Workers at the failed Cover Oregon health care exchange will receive bonuses to keep them on the job as a transition is made to the federal Affordable Care Act. . . . The bonuses will total $662,752, according to Cover Oregon spokeswoman Ariane Holm. There are 161 remaining employees and 38 workers will get bonuses of one to three months of pay. Most will get at least a bonus of two weeks pay if they stick around until next spring. The state spent about $250 million on its failed exchange web site.”

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