The Office of the Insurance Commissioner recently released the new premium rate schedule for 2018 in the individual and exchange markets. (here) Eleven carriers will offer 71 plans compared to 13 companies that offered 154 plans in 2017. Of these 11 carriers, five will have insurance plans outside the state Obamacare exchange, four will offer plans exclusively in the exchange, and two companies will offer plans both inside and outside the exchange.

Residents in six counties in Washington state will have only one insurance company from which to chose and residents in one county, Klickitat, will have no carrier offering plans in the exchange and individual market.

All carriers propose an increase in premium rates ranging from 12.9 percent to 38.5 percent, with an average increase of 22.3 percent. Last year, the average premium increase was 13.6 percent, which seemed high at the time. (here)

Those on the left continue to blame the increase in premium rates on the uncertainty of health care reform in Washington, D.C. The reality is very different.

• Supporters of Obamacare, including Commissioner Kreidler, have had 7 years to make the ACA work for Washington state citizens and haven’t been able to do it.
• Supporters promised families would save $2,500 a year on health premiums.
• They said that by supporting Obamacare you could keep your health care plan if you liked your plan.
• They said that by supporting Obamacare you could choose your own doctor.
• They said passage of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) would reduce emergency room use.  That hasn’t happened.
• Supporters claimed the ACA would provide universal health insurance coverage. To date, only 40 percent of those uninsured in 2010 are now insured.
• Supporters claimed Obamacare would bend down the ever-rising cost curve of health care. Last year, the country spent 18 percent of the economy on health care. With the ACA in place, the country is on track to spend 21 percent of the economy on health care by 2020.

Although uncertainty does exist in Washington, D.C. concerning health care reform, the trend of increasing premium costs and fewer insurance companies is a direct consequence of Obamacare itself.