If every dollar of tax revenue collected from a successful business corresponds to a dollar decrease in potential economic growth, (and conservative “thinkers” tell us there is a direct correlation while reality tells us no such relationship exists), then the looming explosion in health insurance premiums that will ripple out of the destruction of the ACA should really hit the economy hard.
The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced that it will cut 90 percent of its budget for advertising Obamacare’s open enrollment period and will nearly cut in half the funding for hundreds of navigator groups across the country who provide in-person assistance to people signing up for health insurance.
Former HHS officials and health care experts predict the sharply scaled-back outreach effort will significantly depress insurance signups this fall, especially among the young and healthy, causing premiums to skyrocket.
“The people who are sick will navigate any obstacle in order to obtain insurance,” Josh Peck, the former chief marketing officer for HHS, told TPM. “They don’t need a reminder because their illness is their reminder every day. But healthy people need and respond to reminders, so this clearly will have a negative impact on the risk pool.”
