Those darned ultra-conservative Ocare haters at the ultra-rightwingnut NY Times
Health Insurance Companies Seek Big Rate Increases for 2016
Health insurance companies around the country are seeking rate increases of 20 percent to 40 percent or more, saying their new customers under the Affordable Care Act turned out to be sicker than expected. Federal officials say they are determined to see that the requests are scaled back.
Blue Cross and Blue Shield plans — market leaders in many states — are seeking rate increases that average 23 percent in Illinois, 25 percent in North Carolina, 31 percent in Oklahoma, 36 percent in Tennessee and 54 percent in Minnesota, according to documents posted online by the federal government and state insurance commissioners and interviews with insurance executives.
Jesse Ellis O’Brien, a health advocate at the Oregon State Public Interest Research Group, said: “Rate increases will be bigger in 2016 than they have been for years and years and will have a profound effect on consumers here. Some may start wondering if insurance is affordable or if it’s worth the money.â€
The hell you say! Of course, these are just the premiums. Will deductibles, already generally unaffordable, stay the same?
It is far from certain how many of the rate increases will hold up on review, or how much they might change. But already the proposals, buttressed with reams of actuarial data, are fueling fierce debate about the effectiveness of the health law.
That’s because there tends to be pools of sicker and older people signing up, and, it’s great that they have insurance. Someone has to pay for it, though. Instead of putting together a package that would actually address methods that would actually make the plans affordable and stable, we got Ocare.
“Our enrollees generated 24 percent more claims than we thought they would when we set our 2014 rates,†said Nathan T. Johns, the chief financial officer of Arches Health Plan, which covers about one-fourth of the people who bought insurance through the federal exchange in Utah. As a result, the company said, it collected premiums of $39.7 million and had claims of $56.3 million in 2014. It has requested rate increases averaging 45 percent for 2016.
Many companies are finding out that they aren’t just spending the required 80%, but 100% or more. Of course, don’t feel too bad for the companies, who were cheerleaders for the law.
The law is so complicated, and structurally deficient, that it may well collapse under its own weight. Which will lead to calls for a simpler law that actually addresses ways to cover citizens at an affordable rate single payer. Because that’s the ultimate goal: a health system run by and controlled by the Federal government.
Crossed at Right Wing News.
The Democrats will be shocked, shocked! to learn that a health care coverage system which depends upon for-profit insurance companies must still be run for profit.
But, you’re right, of course: the unstated, but still very real goal is to eliminate insurance companies and put a single-payer system in place. The left ignore real world experience, which shows that real single-payer systems like the UK’s and Canada’s all build in deliberate delays to save money, and they were shocked when our own single-payer system, the Veterans Administration, did the same thing.
Since ACA has become law the rate of increase of healthcare in the USA is at historic lows. Yes the cost will go up, not many costs including healthcare will decrease.
Perhaps instead of fear mongering about increases that will not ever be approved Teach might consider posting a graph showing how healthcare costs have gone up in the USA over the last 20 yearshttp://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/wp/2013/03/26/21-graphs-that-show-americas-health-care-prices-are-ludicrous/
1/3 of the USA healthcare costs go for administration and profit. In no other country does a cost like that exist
Also please note that the ACA poll numbers have been imoroving as more people refuse to believe the cherry picked radical right talking points. improving http://www.realclearpolitics.com/epolls/other/obama_and_democrats_health_care_plan-1130.html
And those numbers are MUCH higher for those who have actually enrolled in ACA
And many of those who disaprove of the ACA do so becuause they want a stronger single payer system.Here is a Gallup poll http://www.gallup.com/poll/179396/newly-insured-exchanges-give-coverage-good-marks.aspx
I should warn you that Gallup poll does have a lot of other news to make the right sadz such as large increase of Americans who view themselves as Democrats
The Dow share prices of healthcare orgs have been doing very very well under Obama billions in profits for the owners capitalists LOVE Obama all profits are at all time record highs and the Dow went up 300% under him
300% under socialism !!!
Isn’t that great?
Dana why not compare the single payer health systems that countries like Germany or Switzerland or Israel offer they have BETTER healthcare than is what most Americans receive.
John, it makes sense to use the comparisons with he counties which are most similar to the United States.
And, you might note, that I pointed out that our own Veterans Administration hospitals are taking the same kinds of actions as we see in the British and Canadian single-payer health care systems.
[…] William Teach on The Pirate’s Cove: NY Times: Obamacare Looking For Big Rate Increases For 2016 […]
“Went up 300%. Isn’t that great!” The percentage of eligible people in the workforce is the lowest since our second worst president, Jimmy Carter. Doesn’t that suck?
“One-third of healthcare costs go to administration and profit. Good catch, John. And with the government taking over you think the administrative costs will go down? No they won’t.
John,
You do realize that Obama has been putting $80 billion into the stock market every month. The fact that the stock market even goes down on some days makes you wonder why considering all the effort that is being made to prop it up. Now, please tell me what the stock market has to do with the economy or really anything in general other than to appease low information people such as yourself.
Now, health care cost have mushroomed over the last 20 years, or greater. It is because the Federal government has been dictating prices with the integration of the current system of control. Are you aware that one of the biggest reasons for doctors committing Medicare fraud is because they were found to be giving free care?
Thank you for sharing this. A liberal friend recently sent me a New York Times editorial by Paul Krugman crowing about how successful Obamacare is. One of Krugman’s remarks was that there were scare stories earlier this year but that it looks like 2016 rate increases would be low, “modest by historical standards.” It looks like Krugman is totally wrong once again. If anyone is interested, here is the link to Krugman’s article: http://www.nytimes.com/2015/06/26/opinion/paul-krugman-hooray-for-the-aca.html?smid=nytcore-iphone-share&smprod=nytcore-iphone