Tennessee Sen. Lamar Alexander said Saturday that Obamacare exchanges in his home state are nearly ready to collapse, and he fears that other states will soon follow suit.
"This November, when Tennesseans are signing up for 2017 Obamacare plans, there will be fewer to choose from – and they’ll be much more expensive," Alexander said in Saturday's GOP weekly address. "That picture will be the same for many Americans across the country.”
On Wednesday, The Tennessean, the largest newspaper in Alexander's state, reported in a front page story that the state's exchange is "very near collapse," the senator said, but the story wasn't about a "bridge or a foreign dictatorship."
"'Very near collapse'" was our state insurance commissioner’s description of the Obamacare exchange in Tennessee, which more than 2,000 Tennesseans used last year to buy health plans,” Alexander said.
That means next year, Tennesseans will pay an "intolerable increase" of between 44 and 62 percent for their Obamacare plans than they paid last year, said Alexander, and if policyholders can't pay for it, the taxpayers will, as a large part of Obamacare premiums end up being funded with tax dollars.
The struggles will leave Americans with a choice as they enter the voting booths in November, said Alexander, warning that Democrats will tighten Washington's hold on private insurance choices.
"Democrats will spend more of your taxpayer dollars to prop up the collapsing Obamacare exchanges," said Alexander, while Republicans "want to help Americans struggling with the cost of health insurance immediately by working to give states more flexibility when it comes to individual and family options to buy health insurance plans outside the exchanges.
Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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