More Louisiana people opt for Obamacare

Enrollment in health insurance plans offered through the Affordable Care Act’s federal exchange grew to more than 186,000 this year, Health and Human Services Department representatives said in a conference call Tuesday.
Overall, 18- to 34-year-olds are making up a larger portion of the coverage pool, they said, and the number of insurers offering coverage through the exchanges is up by 25 percent.
But U.S. Rep. Charles Boustany, R-Lafayette and a retired cardiac surgeon, urged Louisiana people to think of the costs of the health care reform known best as “Obamacare.”
“It is important to keep the big picture in mind when considering the impact of ObamaCare on Louisiana families and on the Louisiana economy,” Boustany said in an email in response to a request for comment.
A Supreme Court ruling in the pending King v. Burwell case could unravel Obamacare completely by eliminating the tax credits that make coverage affordable in the federal exchange.
According to the HHS:
—186,277 Louisiana consumers selected or were automatically re-enrolled in health insurance coverage through the federal Health Insurance Marketplace as of Feb. 22. That’s up from about 100,000 last year.
—Of those consumers, 89 percent qualified for an average tax credit of $319 per month.
— Sixty-three percent paid $100 or less per month for their coverage after tax credits. In Louisiana, 93 percent of individuals with a marketplace plan selection had the option of selecting a plan for $100 or less per month.
—In Louisiana, 68,792 consumers under 35 are signed up for federal exchange coverage, making up a third of all enrollees. That’s up slightly from 32 percent in 2012.
Boustany pointed to the new mandates in the Affordable Care Act for both individual sand employers.
“This law has forced thousands of families off of their preferred plans, raised premiums and out-of-pocket costs, imposed thousands of dollars in new fines and taxes on small businesses, and restricted employers from making much-needed hires,” Boustany said via email. “While the Administration’s enrollment numbers are meant to look good at face value, it’s more important to ask: at what cost?”
Insurance Commissioner Jim Donelon’s office said that about 93,000 Louisiana people lost coverage last year, mostly because they were covered by inexpensive plans that lacked features required by the new health care law.
In King v. Burwell, conservative activists have sued over language in one section of the health care act, which appears to limit the tax credits to those who buy coverage through state exchanges, not the federal exchange.
Other portions of the act seem to say the tax credits are intended for federal exchange premium-payers, too. Because most states didn’t create their own exchanges, a Supreme Court ruling banning tax credits for federal exchange customers could drastically reduce the program’s effectiveness.

This story was written by Bill Decker of The Daily Review staff. Reach him at bdecker@daily-review.com