The Latest From California: Obamacare is Working


California’s biggest health insurer says there won’t be any Obamacare rate shock next year:

In the strongest indication yet where Obamacare rates are headed, industry giant Anthem Blue Cross said its California premiums for individual coverage will increase less than 10% on average next year….[Anthem Blue Cross President Mark Morgan] said the age and projected medical costs of new enrollees are in line with the company’s expectations thus far.

California is a big state that had a successful Obamacare rollout, and there’s no telling if we’ll see the same kinds of rate hikes in other states. But it’s telling that Morgan said the demographic profile of its new Obamacare enrollees was about what they were expecting. Presumably, they’re also seeing new enrollees pay their first premiums at about the rate they expected.

Note that these are no longer just vague predictions. Anthem and other insurers filed their rate increase applications with the state last week, and final rates will be set a few weeks from now.

Obamacare got off to a rough start. But despite endless hysterics from an endless stream of conservative talking heads—enrollment numbers are low, there aren’t enough young people, nobody is paying their premiums, blah blah blah—Obamacare is working. It’s not perfect, and it could be better if Republicans were willing to allow improvements. But it’s working.

Fact:

Mother Jones was founded as a nonprofit in 1976 because we knew corporations and billionaires wouldn't fund the type of hard-hitting journalism we set out to do.

Today, reader support makes up about two-thirds of our budget, allows us to dig deep on stories that matter, and lets us keep our reporting free for everyone. If you value what you get from Mother Jones, please join us with a tax-deductible donation today so we can keep on doing the type of journalism 2022 demands.

payment methods

Fact:

Today, reader support makes up about two-thirds of our budget, allows us to dig deep on stories that matter, and lets us keep our reporting free for everyone. If you value what you get from Mother Jones, please join us with a tax-deductible donation today so we can keep on doing the type of journalism 2022 demands.

payment methods

We Recommend

Latest

Sign up for our free newsletter

Subscribe to the Mother Jones Daily to have our top stories delivered directly to your inbox.

Get our award-winning magazine

Save big on a full year of investigations, ideas, and insights.

Subscribe

Support our journalism

Help Mother Jones' reporters dig deep with a tax-deductible donation.

Donate