Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senator John McCain (R-AZ) released the following statement today on the newly released health insurance rate requests for the Obamacare exchanges by the Arizona Department of Insurance, which show insurers are requesting premium rate increases as high as 123% in Arizona as a result of financial losses and upheaval in the marketplace:

 

“The Arizona Department of Insurance’s updated threshold rate increases for 2017 shows the bad news about Obamacare is just getting worse. In place of what were already some of the steepest increases in the country are even more jaw-dropping requests that would be devastating for the nearly 180,000 Arizonans enrolled in Obamacare plans. Aetna is now requesting an average increase of 86%; Health Net of Arizona has jumped to 48%; and in what could be the most staggering development in the country, Phoenix Health’s request has sky-rocketed to 123%. On November 1^st, this will be the new, albeit all-too-harsh, reality facing thousands of Arizonans. Most disturbingly, Arizonans who will not be able to afford to pay potentially hundreds of dollars per month for health insurance will be forced to pay an onerous fine to Uncle Sam.

“This news is hardly surprising, given the continuous upheaval in the Obamacare marketplace. Earlier this year, we learned that insurance companies planning to sell health insurance plans on the individual marketplace in Arizona would have to greatly increase premiums just to make ends meet. UnitedHealth, Humana, and Health Choice have all announced that they will not be participating in the marketplace next year, while Blue Cross Blue Shield of Arizona and Health Net of Arizona will not be offering plans in both Maricopa and Pinal counties. Many insurance companies project even more significant losses from its Obamacare plans in 2016, resulting in companies like Aetna saying they will now reevaluate their participation in the marketplace and nix their planned expansion altogether.

“The crumbling of Obamacare shows that this failed law is the wrong solution to fixing our health care system. It’s time for its supporters to finally face the reality that this law is doing far more harm than good, and leaving hardworking Arizonans to pick up the pieces.”

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