Obamacare hits slump, falls short of 2016 pace
Obamacare hits slump, falls short of 2016 pace:- After years of steady growth Obamacare’s sign-ups slumped in 2017, according to early numbers that suggest the law is struggling now that President Obama is no longer in office to give it a boost.
The number of people selecting plans on the federal HealthCare.gov website dropped 4 percent this go-around compared to the 2016 season, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services said.
Democrats immediately blamed President Trump for sabotaging the law, saying sign-ups had been running ahead of schedule while Mr. Obama was overseeing things, but enthusiasm appeared to wane in the final days before the Jan. 31 sign-up deadline, after Mr. Trump’s Jan. 20 inauguration.
The new administration said the health care law itself was to blame, as customers faced double-digit premium hikes and fewer choices on the web-based insurance exchanges.
“Obamacare has failed the American people, with one broken promise after another,” Health and Human Services Department spokesman Matt Lloyd said, in a sharp break in tone from an Obama administration that promoted the law for seven years.
Policy analysts said HealthCare.gov’s tally of 9.2 million customers for 2017 reflected a law that is still struggling to attract enough customers to put it on firm economic footing, though not unraveling, as its critics claim.
Source:- http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2017/feb/5/obamacare-hits-slump-falls-short-of-2016-pace/?
