Recently, Colorado’s largest Obamacare co-op became unlucky number seven in the nation to fail. Colorado HealthOP’s announcement comes in the wake of similar Obamacare exchange flops throughout Kentucky, Louisiana, Iowa, Nebraska, Nevada, New York and Tennessee. These failures are not surprising anyone, but they are hurting the many Senate Democrats who supported and fought for Obamacare from the very beginning.
This especially damages the reputation of Colorado Senator Michael Bennet, who in 2009 promised his constituents that Obamacare would not take healthcare choices away from them, saying:
“We should begin with a basic principle: if you have coverage and you like it, you can keep it…We will not take those choices away from you.”
Now 83,000 Coloradans are losing their health coverage. Bennet’s lies and broken promises are coming back to haunt him – especially when Coloradans find out that closing the co-op will cost tax payers $40 million.
It was also recently reported Coloradans who pay for their own healthcare will see a 10% cost increase. The Denver Post reports:
Cost increases will vary greatly from one region of the state to another. In Denver and Boulder, individual polices will cost about 6 percent more. In Glenwood Springs — a mountain region — the average individual premium will jump 25 percent.
With some premiums climbing 25%, Bennet will be held accountable for the burden he has put on Colorado’s families. This will hurt his Senate odds.
Obamacare’s failures hurt other Democratic candidates for the Senate. Harry Reid’s handpicked successor Catherine Cortez Masto has admitted that she would’ve voted for Obamacare as well. She owned up to this after the Nevada Health co-op collapsed this past August. How can she support a failed institution in her own state, which left "millions in the red", and expect to get elected to the Senate?
Senate Republicans are fighting to pick up the Obamacare pieces and fix these new problems in our healthcare system. Rob Portman released an op-ed outlining the innumerable ways Obamacare has stifled small businesses and hurt the tax payers:
- New taxes on health insurance premiums
- Restrictions on Health Savings Accounts
- Forbidding standalone Health Reimbursement Arrangement
- Changing the definition of "large employers"
- The Cadillac Tax
He also highlighted solutions to these problems, such as the Small Business Health Relief Act and the Protecting Affordable Coverage for Employees Act. Both of these bills would repeal harmful Obamacare taxes and rate hikes, as well as help small businesses make sure they can keep the health coverage their employees deserve.
Republicans have been trying to clean up the mess Senate Democrats and Obama have made, and Senate Democratic candidates will be held accountable for their Obamacare support.