INDIANAPOLIS – A new study shows that Hoosiers’ health care premiums will rise by as much as 50% in the next three years thanks to Republican attempts to sabotage the nation’s health care system, including through the McConnell tax plan.
A nationwide study reported by the Washington Post conducted by a state-run insurance marketplace on health care premiums found that “recent federal decisions will have a profound effect on prices” that may rise in some parts of the country by as much as 90% over the next three years. Indiana is rated as having “high marketplace risk,” with the possibility of 50% premium increases by 2021. The same study reports that Indiana’s 2018 enrollment is five percent lower than 2017, which it claims is a result of Republican efforts to raise rates and shorten the enrollment window.
The “federal decisions” that the report refers to are GOP efforts throughout 2017 to sabotage the insurance markets. One insurer that planned to provide coverage for Hoosiers said that in a normal year, it would only have to raise rates by two percent – but thanks to the unclear environment, it needed to raise them by more than 15% instead. Last week’s report also blamed the McConnell tax plan, which will cause 13 million people to go without health insurance by 2027, as a key factor in driving up rates.
The changes to the health care system courtesy of the McConnell tax plan will make it easier for insurance companies to exclude people with pre-existing conditions. This will raise rates for millions of Hoosiers, including those who are diabetic or have previously had cancer.
“Republicans like Congressmen Rokita and Messer and Rep. Braun spent months trying to raise health insurance premiums for Hoosiers purely for political purposes, and the Hoosiers who’ll face steeper health care costs are paying the price,” said Michael Feldman, spokesman for the Indiana Democratic Party. “Any benefit Hoosiers see from the McConnell tax plan will be more than wiped away by double digit spikes in premiums, and Mitch McConnell and his Republican allies in Indiana will have no one to blame but themselves.”
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