While liberals across the country are celebrating Obamacare’s fifth birthday with tofu cake and party favors of rainbow-farting unicorns, those of us living in the real world are struggling to pay increased costs of insurance and medicine or still doing without any health coverage and forced to pay stiff fines.
U.S. Rep Diana DeGette retweeted a message from her boss House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, bragging that 16 million people now have health insurance because of this law that was jammed down our throats like an arsenic-soaked tongue depressor.
Of course, the number of those without insurance that Obama pledged his policy would provide coverage was closer to 50 million. And, we don’t know if Pelosi’s number accounts for polices that were cancelled because of Obamacare, like the 200,000 in Colorado now facing the loss of their coverage.
And never mind, we guess, that Coloradans living in ski resort areas are now forced to pay for the most expensive policies in the nation.
U.S. Sen. Cory Gardner today posed the question that is on everyone’s mind:
“After five years of rising costs, losses of coverage, and repeated lies from the president and his allies about what their law would do, Coloradans and Americans continue to ask whether the broken promises of Obamacare have been worth the enormous cost.
President’s allies? We’re looking at you, Sen. Michael Bennet.
Although Obama explicitly promised that average family costs would go down by $2,500 a year, the Brookings Institution and other studies show costs grew by nearly 25 percent for individuals, and Colorado families have seen their premiums increase by 35 percent.
We’re not sure how much more help from Obamacare Coloradans can stand.
Hopefully, the legislative committee tasked with oversight of Colorado’s health exchange will bring some sanity to that mucked-up system.
According to Health News Colorado, Sen. Ellen Roberts, Durango Republican, is launching new hearings to investigate the bottomless pit of health insurance fiascos created by the exchange.
Roberts’ increased scrutiny comes after she became so frustrated with the legislative review committee that she quit for a time.
During one committee meeting in May of 2013, Roberts called any oversight of the exchange a “mockery.” Exchange officials wanted approval for a $125 million request for federal cash, yet they had failed to brief lawmakers about costs for the exchange until the morning of the hearing.
She said she’s heard from numerous constituents both from her district and around the state that their inability to sign up through Colorado’s exchange has jeopardized their health. Because some people have struggled to sign up for insurance, they have delayed care.
According to BizWest, the bipartisan commission will hold public hearings beginning this summer across the state to hear concerns about health care costs and make recommendations to the legislature and Gov. Hickenlooper.
With any luck, Hick will also sign that health exchange audit that’s now sitting on his desk gathering dust.