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Monday, September 26, 2016

ObamaCare Exchanges not a job killer, and Americans auto enroll instead of forcing insurance companies to compete, resulting in higher prices.

It looks like Americans don't have enough time in their busy lives to shop for health insurance. It's crazy really, going through the ritual of picking the least draconian plan year after year, just to save lots of money. Too much work.

Nothing could be easier than going online and comparison shop for insurance. But that's not happening, resulting in higher prices for those seeking insurance.

Here are two important ObamaCare facts recently revealed by the Kaiser Family Foundation:
1. Obamacare was not a job killer: One of the more prevalent concerns surrounding Obamacare's implementation of the employer mandate -- the actionable component of Obamacare that requires employers to offer health coverage options if they have 50 or more full-time equivalent employees (FTE) -- was that it would coerce employers to reduce full-time employees to part-time, or it would result in job cuts.

Since Obamacare was officially launched, 7% of employers with 50 or more FTE bumped part-time workers up to full-time compared to just 2% of employers who cut full-time workers to part-time. 
2. Competition among insurers is a genuine issue: For starters, competition among insurers is actually declining. 

The other issue is that we're not seeing consumers necessarily making informed purchasing decisions with the information afforded to them. In each of the past two years millions of Americans have auto-enrolled in their previous year's plan, which is a potentially terrible idea. Plan coverage options and premiums change each year, and what may have been the best value one year may not be the next. What this essentially demonstrates is that the consumer isn't taking the time to shop around, which is further putting pricing power back into the hands of insurers. 


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