A DOSE OF REALITY – AT 10:54 A.M. ET:  We're being told by the mainstream press that Obamacare is suddenly very popular among the masses.  But is it really true, or playing with numbers.  From IBD:   

Health Reform: The need for an overhaul of ObamaCare just got more acute, as a new survey shows that satisfaction rates among those enrolled in ObamaCare plans has taken a steep nose-dive this year amid premium hikes and reduced choices.

The new coverage of ObamaCare these days has been all about protests against repeal and the alleged increase in public support for the law.

But a survey of actual ObamaCare customers released this week paints an entirely different picture.

It found that just 22% of the 44,200 ObamaCare enrollees polled rate their health plan as good to excellent. That's down from 77% who gave their ObamaCare plans high marks last year.

The reason for the sharp decline was higher premiums, worse service and lack of choice. The survey, conducted by Black Book Market Research, found that 96% reported a decline in customer service support, 90% noted premium increases, 80% said their plans had narrower provider networks, and 77% said their plans' benefits had been trimmed. Nearly two-thirds (61%) complained about lack of competitors in their market.

In other words, the collapse of competition in the ObamaCare exchanges — which left five states and a third of U.S. counties with only one ObamaCare insurer — has led to the rapid deterioration in quality.

Black Book managing partner Douglas Brown says that the remaining plans "failed to congruently ramp up member services support to process claims, respond to enrollment issues, answer provider questions, denials, authorizations, and payment."

None of this, mind you, has anything to do with Republican calls to repeal ObamaCare, since insurers announced their massive rate hikes and their plans to abandon ObamaCare long before the November elections.

COMMENT:  When Obamacare was passed, we were warned by knowledgeable people that it was set up as a trick – with services delivered first, to be followed by large premium increases later.  A typical example of the socialist approach – everything is great for the first year or two, then, when the citizenry is trapped, the deterioration starts.  Eventually, people get used to the lower standards.  It's the equality of misery.

March 3, 2017