As a recent Chicago Tribune editorial says:
Obamacare to surgery, STAT!
“News stories of recent days suggest a stabbing pain in the wallet awaiting people who buy health coverage for 2017 through Obamacare exchanges. Friday’s Tribune reported that insurers in many states will seek major premium hikes. We don’t yet have Illinois figures, but it’s safe to say that citizens here should prepare for a rate jolt of teeth-rattling magnitude.”
It goes on to state:
“No wonder other insurers warn that they may follow UnitedHealthcare to the exit, unless they win major premium rate hikes for next year. How high will they go? Here’s a clue: Insurers received $7 billion in a federal subsidy program in 2014. That program expires at the end of this year. Blase and his colleagues estimate premiums would have had to be 26 percent higher in 2014 without that subsidy.”
