States Battling Anthem to Save Obamacare Exchanges
A new political battle brewing in Colorado shows that Obamacare is even worse than we thought. Governor John Hickenlooper (D-Denver) is threatening to stop Anthem (NYSE: ANTM) from bidding on state Medicaid contracts if the health-insurance giant pulls out of Colorado’s Obamacare exchange.
Anthem is considering leaving the Connect for Colorado Exchange, Colorado Public Radio (CPR) reported. That would leave thousands of customers in rural counties in Western Colorado with no Obamacare exchange options. Many of those people are old and sick and unable to find any other insurance.
Every other insurer has pulled out of 14 counties; including Delta, Gunnison, Lake, Moffat, Pitkin, Ouray, and San Miguel. That effectively leaves people with no employer insurance who make too much for Medicaid with no coverage.
One obvious result of that will be that some people will quit their jobs and simply go on Medicaid to get the healthcare they need. This shows how cruel and illogical Obamacare really is and proves why it needs to go away as soon as possible.
Governor Tries to Extort Anthem to stay in Obamacare Exchanges
Hickenlooper is trying to force Anthem to stay in the exchanges by banning the company from bidding on Medicaid contracts, CPR reported.
That might hurt thousands of Coloradoans who depend upon Medicaid and it might not affect Anthem. The insurer reported revenues of $87.1 billion, a profit margin of 4.48% and a net income of $2.777 billion on March 31, 2017.
Hickenlooper is not alone New York Governor Andrew M. Cuomo (D) is making a similar threat, The New York Times reported. Cuomo is trying to use a threat to ban Anthem from exchanges to keep it on the state’s Obamacare exchange.
Sorry Democrats Obamacare Does not Work
This situation proves that Obamacare does not work and should be abolished. Anthem’s revenues grew by $6.71 billion between March 2016 and March 2017; the insurer reported $80.39 billion in revenues for first quarter 2016, and $87.1 billion a year later.
If a highly-profitable company such as Anthem cannot afford to participate in the exchanges – who can? It is time to pull the plug on the experiment known on Obamacare, it’s not working. Instead we should extend Medicare to cover all Americans.
A good start to that expansion would be to extend Medicare coverage to all Americans over 50 or 55, all persons in the so-called risk corridors, and in areas where no insurers are participating in Obamacare exchanges. The risk corridors are the mechanism that is supposed to provide coverage for persons who cannot get insurance because of preexisting conditions.
Perhaps Democrats like Cuomo and Hickenlooper should forget about attacking Anthem and start campaigning for Medicare for All. A successful campaign for that might land one of those men in the White House in January 2021. If they don’t somebody from the far left will step into the Oval Office after President Trump leaves on Inauguration Day 2021.
