Here's why Obamacare could help swing the election
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Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump has been hammering the ACA, better known as Obamacare, on the trail, calling the law a "mess" and "one more way the system is rigged."
This may in fact be a shrewd move for Trump, since as we've noted before, Obamacare is deeply unpopular among Trump's base and is seen as more unfavorable than favorable among those that consider themselves independent.
The reason Trump is hitting the issue of Obamacare so hard may be because those states considered "swing states" have generally seen greater premium increases than the national average. According to the Department for Health and Human Services, the premium for benchmark silver-level plan will increase by 22%, for swing states the increases are:
- Arizona: +116%
- Pennsylvania: +53%
- North Carolina: +40%
- Iowa: +25%
- Maine: +15%
- Florida: +14%
- Nevada: +6%
- Ohio and New Hampshire: +2%
This doesn't necessarily help directly for places such as Ohio and Nevada. However, Trump can still use other states as an example of concerns about the law. In fact, he repeatedly cited the massive Arizona jump at a rally in Florida on Wednesday.
Additionally, the premium increases do not account for subsidies that can reduce the cost for 77% of those in the exchanges to under $100 a month.
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