[Zero Hedge] For months now we've warned, as have many prominent Republican legislators, that Obamacare is on the verge of collapse (see "Obamacare On "Verge Of Collapse" As Premiums Set To Soar Again In 2017"). It's not that shocking really as the fundamental concept behind the legislation made it doomed from the start. The idea was that, out of an abundance of compassion for their elders, young, healthy millennial families would fork up $10s of thousands of dollars each year to purchase health insurance they didn't really need. Those premiums would then be used to subsidize care for the elderly who consume more than their "fair share," to quote Obama.
Unfortunately, the basic math skills of our young millennials turned out to be better than the Obama administration had planned for and they figured out they were better off just paying the Obamacare tax to the IRS than paying the larger Obamacare 'tax' associated with buying a service they never use. This "adverse selection bias" left risk pools way worse than insurers planned, which drove premiums even higher, which forced even more young people to ditch their insurance and the cycle will continue until the system ultimately fails.
In fact, as we pointed out last week, Knoxville, TN could be ground zero for the Obamacare explosion as it's 40,000 residents live in a county that has been left with no healthcare options for the 2018 plan year after Humana pulled out of exchanges there.
And, with the fate of Obamacare all but sealed, you can imagine our shock to learn that several House Republicans are now apparently warming up to the legislation.
One such person is Patrick McHenry of North Carolina who says that any efforts of the Trump administration to lure votes from the Freedom Caucus by relaxing rules to allow insurance providers to charge people with pre-existing conditions higher premiums would be a "bridge too far" for some more moderate Republicans. Per The Hill: