Ted Cruz's whole "I don't have health insurance because of Obamacare" schtick has raised a lot of questions among reporters, because there are too many things in his brief telling of the story that make no sense. The gist of it: he and his family are uninsured because their "health care got canceled" because "Blue Cross Blue Shield was leaving the market," and on top of that "we just got a quote, our premiums are going up 50 percent."
The first problem is, of course, how you get a quote that your premiums are going up when you aren't enrolled in any plan. But beyond that, the story is full of holes, as TPM documents. They got in touch with BCBS Texas, and confirmed that it hadn't left the market, but dropped its PPO plans while continuing to offer HMO plans.
"Last year we informed members that we would no longer offer PPO's to individual policy holders, but would work to transition them to other available insurance plans for individuals so they would not experience a gap in coverage," said BCBS-Texas spokeswoman Edna Pérez-Vega, via email to TPM. "Those who have been transitioned also have the option of choosing different plans for 2016. We worked with the members and their providers to minimize the impact of this change to their ongoing care, particularly if they needed to transfer their care to other providers."
When did they inform members of that? In July. Cruz has had five months to find a replacement plan.
As to Cruz's assertion that his premiums had spiked by 50 percent, according the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services, on average, premiums in Texas increased by only 4 percent. (In New Hampshire, contrary to Cruz's claim, premiums went up by 5 percent on average, according to the HHS.)
No plan on the exchange in Texas increased by 50 percent. The largest increase in the state was 34 percent for a "tiny carrier." BCBS had some plans where premiums actually decreased.
Cruz also has options. He and his family could certainly have afforded to keep coverage from his wife's fancy Goldman Sachs plan, even though she's now on leave from her job, through COBRA. But it wouldn't look too good politically to have that tie to Goldman Sachs, not after he worked so hard to cover up the loan he got from them. He's also eligible as a U.S. senator to get coverage on the Washington, D.C., exchange, and get the 75 percent government employer subsidy for which he and all congressional staff are eligible. But he'll get more political points from the Obamacare-hating base by refusing that.
In fact, most of this story seems to be about Cruz shoring up his Obamacare-hating credibility with that rabid base. The only reason he—and his family—don't have insurance is through his own negligence. He had five months to find a plan, but by not doing so, now has a great talking point for the slavish tea party crowd.