For a Senator representing a state carried by President Trump in November, Bob Casey sure has been vocal about his support for Obamacare. Casey has been out front on the issue since the election, and shows no signs of stopping his defense of the failed health care law.
In a visit to deep red Blair County yesterday, Casey vowed to fight to keep Obamacare in place even as it continues to wreak havoc on Pennsylvania’s health care system. Last fall, regulators announced that individual health care premiums for Pennsylvanians were spiking, with an average increase of 32.5%. And as two of the commonwealth’s largest insurance providers chose to exit the market, tens of thousands of consumers lost their health care plans. But instead of working to fix Pennsylvania’s broken health care system, Bob Casey continues to play partisan politics, opting to fight to protect former President Obama’s signature law, rather than to fight for Pennsylvania families.
“Bob Casey’s continued tone-deaf cheerleading for Obamacare, even as Pennsylvania families suffer from the disastrous effects of the law on their health care, shows he cares more about preserving Obama’s legacy than helping Pennsylvanians,” said NRSC Spokesman Bob Salera. “Insurance premiums are soaring, and tens of thousands of Pennsylvanians are losing coverage, but Bob Casey continues to promise to block all efforts to fix our broken health care system.”
Background:
The Pennsylvania Insurance Department Announced Average Premium Increases Of 32.5 Percent For Individual ObamaCare Plans In 2017. “Insurance Commissioner Teresa Miller today announced 2017 rates for individual and small group health insurance plans offered in Pennsylvania under the Affordable Care Act (ACA). Open enrollment for these plans begins November 1 and runs through January 31. Insurance company rates, based on their individual requests for 2017, include an average increase of 32.5 percent for individual plans and 7.1 percent for small group plans.” (Pennsylvania Insurance Department, “Insurance Department Announces 2017 Affordable Care Act Rates; Moves To Join Lawsuit Asking Federal Government To Make Required Payments To Insurers,” Press Release, 10/17/16
Because Aetna And UnitedHealthcare Are Leaving Pennsylvania’s ObamaCare Marketplace In 2017, The Philadelphia Area Is Seeing Larger Than Requested Premium Increases By Independence Blue Cross. “Because of decisions by United Healthcare and Aetna to withdraw from Affordable Care Act exchanges in Pennsylvania for 2017, the remaining insurer in the Philadelphia area, Independence Blue Cross, has been granted bigger increases than it requested in the spring, the Pennsylvania Insurance Department said Monday.” (Harold Brubaker, “The Absence Of Aetna And United Healthcare Lead To Hefty Increases For Affordable Care Act Rates In Philly Area,” The Philadelphia Inquirer, 10/17/16)
According To Bloomberg’s Interviews With State Insurance Regulators, Tens Of Thousands Pennsylvanians Will Lose Their Current ObamaCare Plan In 2017. (Zachary Tracer, Tatiana Darie, Katherine Doherty, “More Than 1 Million In Obamacare To Lose Plans As Insurers Quit,” Bloomberg, 10/14/16)