Obamacare Customers Panic as Prices Soar: ‘Really Nervous’

Problems with Obamacare have caused significant rate hikes in some parts of the country and fewer choices for consumers, but that hasn’t stopped the Obama Administration from making a major enrollment push at the start of open enrollment Tuesday.

Even though the administration is pushing for enrollment, it’s a tough sell for states like Tennessee that have seen premiums spike over 50 percent, CBS News reported.

Eric Jans, an insurance broker, said he panicked “a little bit” when Blue Cross Blue Shield pulled out of the Obamacare market in Nashville.

Jans said a lot of his clients are “really nervous right now,” since most of Jans’ 300 clients were covered by Blue Cross.

Jans also lost income in addition to his insurance since he was paid by Blue Cross.

“As of January 1, unless we jump on to something else. … and we’re looking at $750 a month this year to $1,100 next year,” Eric said.

That’s $1,100 for a family of four.

Blue Cross Blue Shield left the Obamacare marketplace in three major Tennessee markets, citing $500 million in losses over three years.

Seventy-three of the state’s 95 counties only have one insurer, with average premiums going up by 50 percent.

In other states such as Minnesota, Obamacare premiums are going up by at least 50 percent. Other insurers are also leaving the exchanges in different markets nationwide, such as Humana, Aetna, and UnitedHealth.

Still, the administration is aggressively targeting millenials in its push to enroll 14 million more people to offset the fact that not enough young, healthy people have signed up for health insurance to offset the sicker population.