Trump’s Obamacare attacks backfire as open enrollment surges to record highs

Donald Trump has been hell-bent on repealing Obamacare since day one in office. And with all of the attempts by Republicans in Congress to destroy President Barack Obama’s signature achievement in the trash can, Trump has taken matters into his own hands.

After signing executive orders to exempt several health plans from Obamacare consumer protections, killing cost sharing payments to insurers, and pulling funds to advertise open enrollment, Trump might have thought the law was doomed.

Fortunately for the American people, his plan has not worked. In fact, according to The Hill, Obamacare enrollment at healthcare.gov is actually higher than it was at this point in last year’s open enrollment:

On the first day of enrollment alone, Nov. 1, one source close to the process told The Hill that more than 200,000 people selected a plan for 2018, compared with about 100,000 last year. More than 1 million people visited healthcare.gov that day, compared to about 750,000 last year, the source said.

The open enrollment period lasts until Dec. 15, and there is no way to know whether signups will continue at their current pace. However, numbers so far suggest that consumers still know where to go to get health care, and are sticking with their coverage.

Trump’s actions have clearly still had an effect. Twenty states have said Trump’s interference with insurer payments and access have caused insurers to raise premiums, often by over 20 percent.

However, because Obamacare’s tax credits are based on overall premium rates, experts believe Trump’s sabotage is actually likely to increase overall subsidies to consumers, making the net cost of several plans cheaper or even free.

So far, Trump’s spiteful and juvenile move to block millions of working families from getting health insurance has flopped. The American people have made clear they will not surrender their coverage — and the numbers prove it.