Monday, April 25, 2016

Top o'The Week LinkFest


Despite the best (?) efforts of its proponents, ObamaPlan enrollment continues to crater:

"More than 1 million ObamaCare exchange customers have likely dropped out since open enrollment ended on Feb. 1"

That's according to newly released numbers from a handful of states. Interestingly, 80% of those states use their own Exchange portals, while only one (Oklahoma, okay?) sends their victims citizens to 404Care.gov.

Make of that what you will.

Meanwhile, the ripples from UHC's withdrawal from most markets (as graphically reported last week by our own Patrick P) continue their impact:

"United's financial results in the Obamacare exchanges are more than a blip, they are indicative of what is happening in almost all of the states to almost all of the health plans operating in the insurance exchanges."

That is, UHC represents the (admittedly large) canary in the coal mine. If the largest health insurer can't make money in this market, one has to question the sustainability of that market itself. As uber-wonk Bob Laszewski notes, "Obamacare is not about the insurance companies, it is about the consumers that have nowhere else to purchase individual health insurance in the United States and are already finding the offerings––with subsidies or without––lousy deals."

The reality is that 85% of the folks who buy on the Exchange are being subsidized with taxpayer dollars.

And it gets worse: some 60% of those eligible for subsidies don't even bother to use them.

What's that tell ya?

Finally, via FoIB Holly R, we learn that telemedicine was actually predicted in 1925:

La plus ca change...
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