ACA (Obamacare) updates for 2014

No worries, the Colorado Exchange is paying its employees top salaries according to the Post. Job creatin!
See Fred for Link.
1 out of 5 > $100K, about the same ratio as the Fedral Gov't. Great Gig!

You ain't seen nothing yet. Anyone for higher costs?

Health industry officials say ObamaCare-related premiums will double in some parts of the country, countering claims recently made by the administration.

The expected rate hikes will be announced in the coming months amid an intense election year, when control of the Senate is up for grabs. The sticker shock would likely bolster the GOP’s prospects in November and hamper ObamaCare insurance enrollment efforts in 2015.

The industry complaints come less than a week after Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Kathleen Sebelius sought to downplay concerns about rising premiums in the healthcare sector. She told lawmakers rates would increase in 2015 but grow more slowly than in the past.

“The increases are far less significant than what they were prior to the Affordable Care Act,” the secretary said in testimony before the House Ways and Means Committee.

Her comment baffled insurance officials, who said it runs counter to the industry’s consensus about next year.

“It’s pretty shortsighted because I think everybody knows that the way the exchange has rolled out … is going to lead to higher costs,” said one senior insurance executive who requested anonymity.

http://thehill.com/blogs/healthwatch/he ... -skyrocket

The interesting thing is that these articles and analysis are not just coming from the conservative sources anymore.

But it is interesting that the GOP had predicted so much of the recent news, months if not years ago.

Of course, the GOP did not try to repeal Obamacare 57 times, only 6 bills left the House that were absolute repeals. Many of the other bills were designed to delay or mitigate these problems that we are now having.

They were changes that the GOP wanted to keep this "law" from being an complete fustercluck. Even President Obama has had to adopt some of these changes that the GOP had been suggesting all along. Of course, he did it without passing any bills or Congress approved changes.

Over and over the Democrats had no interest in working with the GOP on Obamacare. Well, now they own it and at some point they are going to have to come face to face with the mess. That time will be about November 2014.

Watch them try to blame the outcome of the next election on Bush.

Remember.

- It will lower family premiums by $2500 yr
- It will pay for itself
- It will REDUCE the deficit
- It will NOT cause people to lose their insurance
- If you like your insurance/doctor, you can KEEP your plan/doctor
- It will NOT cause people to lose their jobs
- It will not create any new taxes
- It will apply to Congress
- It wont cover abortions
- It won’t give taxpayer-subsidized health insurance to illegal aliens

A little history brought to you by Clip and Paste News.

And the most ironic thing? The rational lefties I know didn't want this, they wanted single payer, so instead all of America loses with this plan.
More choices? Actually less choices.
Lower cost? Actually much higher.
Better care? Instead millions more are being thrown onto an already low quality Medicaid system.

FredHayek wrote: And the most ironic thing? The rational lefties I know didn't want this, they wanted single payer, so instead all of America loses with this plan.
More choices? Actually less choices.
Lower cost? Actually much higher.
Better care? Instead millions more are being thrown onto an already low quality Medicaid system.

Fred. This is the slow-bleeding method that many Democrat politicians use. Obamacare is a step to single payer. Tell your friends to be patient.

Reverend Revelant wrote:

FredHayek wrote: And the most ironic thing? The rational lefties I know didn't want this, they wanted single payer, so instead all of America loses with this plan.
More choices? Actually less choices.
Lower cost? Actually much higher.
Better care? Instead millions more are being thrown onto an already low quality Medicaid system.

Fred. This is the slow-bleeding method that many Democrat politicians use. Obamacare is a step to single payer. Tell your friends to be patient.

And single payer will have just as few choices or less and we'll get to wait in long lines like our Canadian friends. At least with Obamacare we can still get good and fast health care if we have enough money... IF.

So much for saving $2500 a year...

Health industry officials say ObamaCare-related premiums will double in some parts of the country, countering claims recently made by the administration.

The expected rate hikes will be announced in the coming months amid an intense election year, when control of the Senate is up for grabs. The sticker shock would likely bolster the GOP’s prospects in November and hamper ObamaCare insurance enrollment efforts in 2015.

It will be fascinating to see how Dems spin extreme rate increases.
http://thehill.com/blogs/healthwatch/he ... -skyrocket

Since it was rammed down our throats, it is poetic justice to see so many being impacted by it. A chance in this next election to remedy the situation by both major parties and independents.

Rick wrote: So much for saving $2500 a year...

Health industry officials say ObamaCare-related premiums will double in some parts of the country, countering claims recently made by the administration.

The expected rate hikes will be announced in the coming months amid an intense election year, when control of the Senate is up for grabs. The sticker shock would likely bolster the GOP’s prospects in November and hamper ObamaCare insurance enrollment efforts in 2015.

It will be fascinating to see how Dems spin extreme rate increases.
http://thehill.com/blogs/healthwatch/he ... -skyrocket

I wish people would stop complaining...

The Affordable Care Act is turning out to be less than affordable for some consumers. That’s because many of the plans carry huge deductibles, creating potential financial problems for middle-class consumers. Some “bronze”-level plans, the lowest level of coverage, carry deductibles as high as $12,700 per year for a family of four. The average individual deductible for a bronze plan is a whopping $5,081 per year, according to research provided to CBS MoneyWatch from HealthPocket, a technology company that ranks health care plans. What’s worse, that represents an increase of 40 percent from the average deductible for an individually purchased plan before the federal health care overhaul, according to The Wall Street Journal.

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/obamacare-d ... ker-shock/

It's for your own good. “We regulate all sorts of things because the general public is not smart enough to know when they’re about to be fleeced,” Kelley said."

http://www.cato.org/blog/just-call-us-n ... ough-bunch

While I'm sure Obamacare premiums will go up next year, don't forget that the government (tax payers) will bail out the insurance companies if their costs are greater than expected for 2014-2017). So I think any premium increases will be artificially lower, at least for the next 3 years.

Then comes the Risk Corridor program. Participating health plans will receive payments from the federal government in any of the following circumstances:

The plan's costs for any benefit year are more than 103% but not more than 108% of the health plan's targeted amount. The feds will reimburse 50% of all costs in excess of 103% of the medical cost target.

If the plan's costs are more than 108% of the annual target, the feds will first pay the health plan a flat 2.5% of the target and then reimburse the plan for 80% of their claim costs above the targeted amount––with no upside limit.

Target cost is simply defined in the new law as a health plan's "total premiums (including any subsidies) reduced by the administrative costs of the plan." It is whatever the health plan projected its premium needed to be to pay medical costs.

So, a plan is on the hook for all claim costs up to 102% (2% more) than the target cost.

But, if the health plan has costs at 110% of the medical cost target, it will be responsible for only 102.4% of the target (a 2.4% shortfall)––only about a quarter of its losses.

If the health plan's medical costs come in at 120% of the expected claim cost target level, the health plan will only be responsible for 104.4% of the target (a 4.4% shortfall)––again only about a quarter of its losses.

http://healthpolicyandmarket.blogspot.com/2014/01/will-there-be-obamacare-death-spiral-in.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed:+HealthCarePolicyAndMarketplaceBlog+%28Health+Care+Policy+and+Marketplace+Blog%29&m=1