How Idaho became ground zero for the war against Obamacare

Earlier this week, a coalition of 20 states filed a lawsuit claiming Obamacare is unconstitutional. Vox’s Sarah Kliff says that’s just the latest pushback on the Affordable Care Act. Idaho has been quietly allowing insurance plans that don’t comply with Obamacare’s rules, and the Trump administration hasn’t been doing anything to stop it.

Experts say if the federal government doesn’t intervene, other red states will likely follow in Idaho’s footsteps. Kliff elaborates in the latest episode of Today, Explained:

“The decision of where you buy health insurance actually affects others. It can harm other people. So in Idaho, the situation that health experts worry about is that the really healthy and younger people who have low health costs, they’re going to gravitate toward these anti-Obamacare plans.

Because they don’t have preexisting conditions, they can get a better deal there. And they’ll say, ‘Great. I’m out of the Obamacare market.’ The sick and the older people are going to be left behind in the Obamacare market, and they will likely face higher premiums as a result. ... It’s not about individual liberty; it also has much wider ripple effects for anyone who buys their own health insurance in Idaho.”

For more on how Idaho is setting a dangerous example, listen to Today, Explained here.

Related reading:

• Idaho told insurers they could ignore Obamacare. What happens next? (Sarah Kliff)
• The case that Idaho’s brazen anti-Obamacare plan isn’t illegal after all (Dylan Scott)
• Idaho is ignoring Obamacare rules. That could set off a catastrophic chain reaction. (Nicholas Bagley)

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