Obamacare Premiums to Rise only 7.5 Percent in 2015 – Law is Still a Failure

Liberals everywhere are trumpeting the latest numbers from the Health Research Institute. Why wouldn’t they? Their estimates claim that premium increases in Obamacare next year will be far below the most dire predictions. According to the HRI, the average national increase will only be around 7.5 percent, far below the sky-is-falling prognostications from many on the right. Nevertheless, this small boon for Obamacare does not change the facts of the game. It certainly changes nothing when it comes to how disastrous this law is for the country. And it doesn’t change the fact that it is failing.

The Affordable Healthcare Act, as it’s called when it has its top hat on, is an affront to conservative values first and foremost. It is one of the biggest expansions of government oversight in recent memory, all in the name of that time-honored socialist idea of spreading the wealth around. Taking from the rich and giving to the poor. But Robin Hood Obama is not. Instead of heading into his personal war armed with a bow and arrow, he did so with crony politics and strong-arm strategies.

Now he faces a country diametrically opposed to his policies. The healthcare plan as a whole has never seen widespread public support. The vast majority of polls on Obamacare have shown that no one likes it. There has always been this belief in the administration that the country would grow to like it over time, but that shift in opinion hasn’t materialized.

The law is also losing support from the ones Obama needs on his side the most: doctors and clinics. Now that they realize what a small percentage of the pie they’re getting for accepting Obamacare patients, many doctors have said they won’t be able to. If the tax subsidies in states on the federal exchange turn out to be illegal, doctors will be forced to pick up an even bigger share of the tab. Well, either that or patients will have to pay higher premiums. In either case, it’s hard to see a path for long-term, healthy Obamacare survival.

The most predictable problem with Obamacare is that it’s too filled with holes to be effective. In a law that would take the average person months to read cover to cover, there are plenty of loopholes that employers and state governments can take advantage of. Many young people see the IRS penalty for not being insured as preferable to the premiums themselves. Businesses have cut hours and slashed staff in an attempt to steer clear of the mandate.

Obamacare may be getting some good press today (for once), but don’t let the numbers fool you. Just because the law is failing at a slower rate than predicted doesn’t mean it isn’t failing.