Scott Rasmussen's Number of the Day for August 15, 2017
The Number of the Day columns published on Ballotpedia reflect the views of the author.
August 15, 2017: The number of insurance companies dropping out of the Obamacare exchanges is beginning to have a measurable impact on consumer choice and competition.
Just 141 qualified health plans have applied to provide coverage on healthcare exchanges in 2018. That’s a 38% decline from the 227 applications filed last year.[1] As a result, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) estimates that at least 2.4 million Americans will have only one insurance option available through the exchanges.
In the map below, red counties have no insurance providers available while the yellow counties have just one.
As competition declines and costs go up, the number of people willing to buy Obamacare coverage without a subsidy has declined. In 2016, 7.5 million people were willing to make such a purchase. That figure fell to 5.4 million in 2017.[1]
Consumer resistance to higher costs is also found in the 6.5 million people who have chosen to pay a fine rather than purchase the levels of insurance mandated by Obamacare. Additionally, the Congressional Budget Office estimates that 15 million other Americans would opt out of Obamacare coverage if they were allowed to do so.
Despite the problems of the insurance markets, technology is both improving the quality and reducing the cost of healthcare coverage. Traditional approaches require an average of 18.4 days to actually see the doctor after making an appointment. Then, it takes two hours out of the day to spend just 20 minutes with the physician. That’s because a typical visit involves 101 minutes in the waiting room and travel time.
However, a telemedicine visit takes only about 5 minutes to see the doctor and about 10 minutes for the consultation. A bonus is that telemedicine visits are significantly less expensive than an office visit. In fact, the total cost for a video consultation is often less than the co-pay for an in-office visit.
Each weekday, Scott Rasmussen’s Number of the Day explores interesting and newsworthy topics at the intersection of culture, politics, and technology.
- August 14, 2017 – $31 million spent on 2017 ballot measures
- August 11, 2017 – 451 times police departments forced to rehire fired officers
- August 10, 2017 – 50.6% of votes In Election 2016 were cast by millennials and Gen-Xers
- August 9, 2017 – 6.5 million Americans paid a fine rather than signing up for Obamacare coverage
- August 8, 2017 – 84 percent of voters believe being truly American means accepting people of diverse racial and religious backgrounds
- To see other recent numbers, check out the archive.
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Columns published on Ballotpedia reflect the views of the author.
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