Obamacare is Thriving in Ryan, Pence, and Trump’s Home States

States like Wisconsin, Indiana, and New York are not seeing the catastrophic problems described by GOP leadership

Bill Rapp
Bill Rapp
Jul 25, 2017 · 2 min read

You wouldn’t know it by the gloomy pictures they paint when discussing President Obama’s signature program, but Obamacare is alive and thriving in the home states of these three gentlemen, suffering none of the dire conditions they so often describe.

Competition is robust in the Wisconsin, Indiana, and New York exchanges, as 90% of their counties have three or more providers competing for business. Just one of their 226 total counties is served by only one provider (KFF).

  • Ryan’s home state of Wisconsin quietly expanded Medicaid on their own (100% of FPL) — just not quite as far as Obamacare (133% of FPL). Now they have the sixth lowest uninsured rate in the country at just 5.7% in 2015, down from 9.1% pre-Obamacare and well below the 9.4% national average (U.S. Census). A benchmark Silver plan in Milwaukee did increase moderately — 5.7%, 2.1%, and 16% respectively over the past three years. But Wisconsin health care premiums went up 14.7% , 11.1% , and 14.0% in the three years prior to Obamacare being signed (Commonwealth). The difference today is, after the subsidy,* that 2017 premium was actually $1 cheaper than it was in 2016 (KFF).
  • Mike Pence’s beloved Indiana finally defected from the red-state bloc and expanded Medicaid in 2015. They saw their uninsured rate drop from 14.0% in 2013 to 9.6% by the end of that year (U.S. Census). Premium costs for the benchmark Silver Obamacare plan in Indianapolis have been dropping, down 7.0% in 2015, down 9.4% in 2016 and down 4.0% in 2017. Add-in the subsidy, the premium cost dropped 12% in 2017! Keep this in mind next time Mike talks about “skyrocketing premiums.” (KFF).
  • Donald Trump’s New York embraced Obamacare early on and was rewarded with strong performance. Their uninsured rate went from 10.7% in 2013 to 7.1% in 2015 (U.S. Census). Premiums for a Silver plan in New York City did jump 25% this year (0% after subsidy*), after rising just 1.8% in 2015 and decreasing in 2016 -0.8%.

Tax credit subsidies mentioned are for a 40 year old non-smoker making $30k/year.

See also: The Elephant in the Room: Republicans are Responsible for Obamacare Woes; and Paul Ryan’s Greatest Obamacare Hits.

Bill Rapp

Written by

Bill Rapp

Founder/Principal of Signal2Noise — designer, info visualizer, UX evangelist, and public policy communicator. @billrapp

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