ObamaCare Death Spiral: Even Blue Cross Plans Are Bailing Out

IBD reports:

Health Reform: Two Blue Cross plans made the stunning announcement in the past week that they were dropping out of ObamaCare markets. If even the Blues — the backbone of the individual insurance market for decades — can't make it, ObamaCare is truly on the road to ruin.

Blue Cross was once thought to be ObamaCare's firewall. If for-profit insurers decided to drop out of the exchanges, at least these venerable nonprofits would remain to provide coverage.

But that's not the case anymore. Despite getting approval on an eye-popping rate hike of nearly 60% for 2017, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Tennessee announced that it was quitting three of the largest ObamaCare markets in the state, which will leave 100,000 enrollees to scramble for an alternative coverage next year.

The state's Blue Cross had lost half a billion dollars in ObamaCare's first three years, and the company's spokesman said "there are too many uncertainties to continue participating on a statewide level as we have before."

That decision came shortly after Blue Cross Blue Shield of Nebraska's announcement that it was pulling out of ObamaCare entirely in that state — stranding some 20,000 ObamaCare enrollees — after losing $140 million. "We can't take another hit," said CEO Steve Martin last Friday. The decision came after the company had won approval for a 42% premium increase.

Yet, Strongman Obama says ObamaCare is working better than expected!