August 8, 2017

The Sabotage of Obamacare Is Going Great

A week ago:

Blaming the uncertainty over health care reform in the U.S. Senate, insurance carriers will stop offering plans under the Affordable Care Act in nearly all of Nevada’s rural counties, including Carson City and Douglas County….Only Anthem currently sells plans on the exchange in those counties.

Today:

After significant dialogue with state leaders and regulators Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield has made the difficult decision to revise our rate filing for our 2018 Individual plan offerings in Nevada….Planning and pricing for ACA-compliant health plans has become increasingly difficult due to a shrinking and deteriorating individual market, as well as continual changes and uncertainty in federal operations, rules and guidance, including cost sharing reduction subsidies and the restoration of taxes on fully insured coverage. Specifically, Anthem will reduce its 2018 Individual plan offering in Nevada and will only offer an off-exchange catastrophic medical plan statewide

Nevada now has no insurers in its rural counties. Only two are left in its three big counties following the withdrawal of Anthem. This isn’t because of anything inherently broken about health coverage in Nevada. It’s all thanks to Senate Republicans and Donald Trump, who have deliberately destabilized the insurance market and are now gleefully watching the ensuing chaos. Trump could stop this with just a word, but revenge is more important to him than the health care of thousands. The sabotage of Obamacare continues apace.

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WE CAME UP SHORT.

We just wrapped up a shorter-than-normal, urgent-as-ever fundraising drive and we came up about $45,000 short of our $300,000 goal.

That means we're going to have upwards of $350,000, maybe more, to raise in online donations between now and June 30, when our fiscal year ends and we have to get to break-even. And even though there's zero cushion to miss the mark, we won't be all that in your face about our fundraising again until June.

So we urgently need this specific ask, what you're reading right now, to start bringing in more donations than it ever has. The reality, for these next few months and next few years, is that we have to start finding ways to grow our online supporter base in a big way—and we're optimistic we can keep making real headway by being real with you about this.

Because the bottom line: Corporations and powerful people with deep pockets will never sustain the type of journalism Mother Jones exists to do. The only investors who won’t let independent, investigative journalism down are the people who actually care about its future—you.

And we hope you might consider pitching in before moving on to whatever it is you're about to do next. We really need to see if we'll be able to raise more with this real estate on a daily basis than we have been, so we're hoping to see a promising start.

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