Once Again, Obamacare Premiums Expected To Rise Sharply

by William Teach | April 25, 2016 7:02 am

What happens when you create a law that artificially attempts to control up front costs, which sees people who are mostly sicker and older enroll rather than the young and healthy?

(The Hill[1]) Health insurance companies are laying the groundwork for substantial increases in ObamaCare premiums, opening up a line of attack for Republicans in a presidential election year.

Many insurers have been losing mone[2]y on the ObamaCare marketplaces, in part because they set their premiums too low when the plans started in 2014. The companies are now expected to seek substantial price increases.

Not mentioned is that the Government, at both the state and federal levels, helped set and enforce those rates in order to make Ocare look super awesome.

Insurers are already making the case for premium increases, pointing to a pool of enrollees that is smaller, sicker and costlier than they expected.

The Blue Cross Blue Shield Association released a widely publicized report last month that said new enrollees under ObamaCare had 22 percent higher medical costs than people who received coverage through their employers.

It’s great that these folks have access to medical care. Of course, they also have high deductibles to be met, and there are certainly better ways to structure the coverage to reduce both up-front and back end costs.

The proposals for premium increases, which will be rolled out over the next couple of months, still have to be approved by state insurance commissioners. The ultimate impact on consumers will be hard to determine, as ObamaCare’s tax credits often soften the blow.

In other words, other people are paying for it.

“Companies are either going to have to raise their prices significantly or drop out,” said Sen. John Barrasso (R-Wyo.), pointing to a poll from NPR[3] that found a quarter of the public says the health law has personally hurt them.

“When 25 percent of the American people say that something that the government has done has hurt them, personally hurt them, it’s going to absolutely be an issue in the campaign,” Barrasso, the chairman of the Senate Republican Policy Committee, said.

Let’s also note that the deductibles went up an average[4] of 8.4%, equating to $265 a month, across all plans and all states. In some cases they went down a bit, usually on the gold plans, in some cases way up.

Oh, and that Obama promise[5] that he would cut health care premiums by $2,500 a year? They’ve actually increased by $4,865. You know what this all means? That we need to move to a single payer system, so Liberals state. Funny how everything liberals propose requires more and more central government control of our lives.

Crossed at Pirate’s Cove[6]. Follow me on Twitter @WilliamTeach[7].

Endnotes:
  1. The Hill: http://thehill.com/policy/healthcare/277347-obamacare-premiums-expected-to-rise-sharply-amid-insurer-losses
  2. losing mone: http://thehill.com/policy/healthcare/276366-insurers-warn-losses-from-obamacare-are-unsustainable%20
  3. poll from NPR: http://thehill.com/policy/healthcare/271130-poll-majority-of-americans-feel-unaffected-by-obamacare%20
  4. average: http://dailysignal.com/2016/03/07/how-much-are-obamacare-deductibles-up-in-your-state-find-out-here/
  5. Obama promise: http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2015-09-25/obama-promised-healthcare-premiums-would-fall-2500-family-they-have-climbed-4865
  6. Pirate’s Cove: http://www.thepiratescove.us/
  7. @WilliamTeach: http://twitter.com/WilliamTeach

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