We thought Obamacare was designed to help financially struggling people afford health insurance.
Now we learn that the Connect for Health Colorado Board of Directors voted yesterday to increase taxes by $13 million on those insured under the exchange, “to help the exchange make up for a budget deficit.”
We all know Obamacare has been a poorly managed boondoggle, so the resulting deficits are no surprise. But if the idea was to help poor people, how in the world can they turn around and tax those same people?
U.S. Rep. Cory Gardner (R-Colorado) responded to the tax with an angry letter to CEO Patty Fontneau.
From InsuranceNewsNet.com:
“Hardworking Coloradans are already paying too much for insurance under the President’s healthcare law,” Gardner wrote. “And yet, they are now feeling the pain of another cost increase from Connect for Health Colorado due to a budget shortage. It is absolutely unacceptable that the state exchange is choosing to place more hardships on those who simply want to provide health insurance for their families rather than looking for cost-saving measures within their $66 million budget. Colorado deserves a fiscally responsible, self-sustaining healthcare system. Unfortunately, Connect for Health Colorado is neither of those.”
The vote to raise costs on Coloradans took place just weeks after Fontneau received a $14,000 bonus for 2013 in addition to a 2.5 percent raise from her previous annual salary of $195,300.
