On Friday, a government report revealed Medicaid costs soaring as a result of ObamaCare requiring a massive expansion of the government welfare program. The Associated Press explained: “In a recent report to Congress, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services said the cost of expansion was $6,366 per person for 2015, about 49 percent higher than previously estimated.” Despite such a stunning development that could seriously undermine the law, the news only got a grand total of 18 seconds on the broadcast networks.
All of those 18 seconds were on Friday’s NBC Today, buried in the middle of the 9:00 a.m. ET hour amid Olympics coverage. At 9:30, news anchor Sheinelle Jones noted: “A new government report says the cost of expanding Medicaid, a key part of ObamaCare, is rising faster than expected. President Obama wants to extend full federal funding as an incentive for the 19 states that have yet to adopt Medicare expansion. But higher cost estimates could make it harder to convince Congress to go along.”
That was it. Neither ABC’s Good Morning America nor CBS This Morning touched the story.
The AP acknowledged the potential political fallout for Democrats: “The new estimates could be a warning light for Democrat Hillary Clinton, who has promised that if elected president she would work to expand Medicaid in the remaining 19 states that have not done so. Higher costs would make it harder for a President Clinton to sell Obama's full-financing plan to Congress.”
In addition to ObamaCare’s skyrocketing costs, several major private insurance companies have voiced serious concerns over the health care exchanges set up by the law. In an article from The Hill on Thursday, entitled “Next president faces possible ObamaCare meltdown,” reporter Sarah Ferris warned: “In the last month, two major insurers — Aetna and Anthem — both reversed course on their plans to expand in the marketplace. Now, all five of the nation’s largest insurers say they are losing money on the exchanges.”
