ObamaCare exchange enrollment has tumbled from 12.7 million people who signed up for plans as of early February to 10.5 million at the end of June, the Department of Health and Human Services said on Wednesday.
Even worse, an early snapshot of third-quarter enrollment on Tuesday from UnitedHealth (UNH) -- which saw its exchange enrollment slide by 50,000, or 6%, to 770,000 from June to September — suggests that national enrollment has fallen to 10 million, perhaps lower.
The fact that the big drop in enrollment in the first half of the year even exceeds the attrition rate seen in the first half of 2015 should be a major concern, given that the cost of going uninsured jumped in 2016 with the ramping up of ObamaCare's individual mandate penalty to a minimum of $695, from $325 last year. This year, about 8 million people paid ObamaCare's penalty for going without coverage. When so many millions of people see the available plans as either unaffordable or such a bad deal that they're willing to risk paying a fine, ObamaCare's mounting problems should only serve to intensify questions about the wisdom and fairness of the individual mandate.
