The White House claimed Wednesday Obamacare has both driven up health insurance costs and reduced the number of insurance options for Americans to choose from.
“Obamacare has led to higher costs and fewer health insurance options for millions of Americans,” the White House tweeted. “It has failed the American people.”
Verdict: True
The White House claims that Obamacare has made insurance more expensive and has reduced insurance options are both supported by public facts provided by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services and the Department of Health and Human Services.
Fact Check:
The text of the White House tweet argues that “higher costs” and “fewer health insurance options” have stemmed from the Affordable Care Act.
Insurers have been dropping out of Obamacare exchanges left and right, citing “continued financial stress” and “unbalanced risk pools” associated with plans offered on the exchanges. (RELATED: Insurance Companies Ditching Obamacare Follow A Similar Pattern)
Structural issues with the Obamacare system, combined with the exchange market’s political uncertainties, have forced health insurance providers to withdraw from Obamacare exchanges. As insurers drop out, that leaves the 9.2 million Americans who rely on the exchanges with fewer insurers to choose from, as the White House tweet correctly states.
In fact, more than 600 counties in America are projected to have only two insurer options left on their insurance exchanges by 2018.
Nearly 1,200 counties are projected to have only one.
Forty-seven are projected to have zero.
With fewer choices and less competition, those 9.2 million Americans reliant on Obamacare exchanges are stuck with higher prices, as the White House tweet also correctly claims. The Department of Health and Human Services reports that average premiums for plans on the exchanges have increased by 105 percent since 2013.
Higher premiums compounded by fewer – if any – health insurance options on the Obamacare exchanges represent structural issues with the ACA that affect nearly ten million Americans. The White House’s tweet accurately reflects these facts.
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