As predicted, the ACA exchanges seem not to be stable

The average price of health insurance in the Obamacare marketplaces will rise by 13 percent next year, according to an analysis on Friday by KFF, the health research group. The Trump administration on Friday published new prices for 2027 in 30 states with markets managed by the federal government. Using that data and state figures, KFF calculated the increase nationwide. …The average cost for the cheapest bronze plan with a high deductible will be about $700 a month for a 50-year-old single person, according to Ms. Cox.

Here is more from the NYT. Of course that makes the people who can expect to be healthy all the less likely to sign up, given that the enforcement of the mandate, for political reasons, was forced to evolve into something quite weak. For purposes of context, when the original mandate was more tightly enforced, with actual penalties, the ACA was very unpopular and led to significant political protests. In essence the benefits to a broad, scattered majority were imposed on a well-identified minority, namely those who signed up because of the mandate. Trump in his first term relaxed mandate enforcement, thereby politically saving Obamacare at least for a while, but also creating this longer-term problem.

It is striking to me how infrequently I hear Democrats boasting about Obamacare. They instead prefer to talk as if little or nothing has been done for America’s uninsured.

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