Oh joy, got my annual health insurance rate increase today.

[Headhunter]

Only going up 14% this year. Obamacare is such a great program. My premiums are only up around 70% since Obamacare was passed. I almost forgot, my deductible has gone from $500 to $1000 (have to pay extra to keep it that low, next deductible available is $3000) and my max out of pocket from co-insurance went from $3000 to $8000. Out of pocket doesn't include premiums of course which are now $8900 per year, PER PERSON.

We were all told that more people in the insurance pool the cheaper the premiums. That less people getting their care through emergency services would bring costs down.

I pay for coverage that doesn't even make any sense for someone my age and health history but it guarantees that the insurance companies make a boat load of money from providing it to people who will never use it.

Anyone with a brain, which will eliminate a few on here, knows Obamacare was written by lobbyists in the back rooms of congress for big insurance and pharmaceutical companies and shoved down everyone's throat.

I don't mind subsidizing people with legit reasons for not being able to supply their own coverage but this law screws responsible people and rewards insurance and medical related for profit companies in a huge way.

 

[tcpoke]

The big insurance companies absolutely hate the ACA. They no longer have the ability to operate within thier own business model as the government is trying to force them into a non-profit model.

The increase in rates is because they can't say no to anyone anymore. The costs will continue to go up as long as the ACA is unchanged, eventually pricing almost everyone out of the individual market, eliminating small employers who can't affford to offer benefits as deemed required by the federal government and eventually shrinking the insurance market place which is never good for consumers.
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[windriverrange]

But dUPs taxi cab driver friend who was dancing around one week after heart surgery is dam happy it was passed! Ours went up as well, about 17%, I decided to take a different deductible and higher office visit fee. Think its bad now, wait till the strategically planned per-election exemptions start kicking in, will really get ugly.

 

[Headhunter]

In order to get big insurance to not fight tooth and nail against ACA Obama agreed to insert a lot of things into the bill that cost shifts expenses from them to the insured and providers. Don't be fooled, they bitched a little just for looks and then slapped all the Democrats on the back as the bill passed.

There is a reason they aren't screaming bloody murder against this debacle. There is no real competition in the health insurance market and that's the way the big boys want it.






This post was edited on 4/15 7:35 PM by Headhunter

 

[windriverrange]

Headhunter do you think that the primary reason they are screaming bloody murder now is because they fully expect some type of government "bailout" later to make up the losses they surely are incurring now? I don't understand it either by the way....there is no way the numbers the lying bunch of fools in this criminal administration are true, so something just isn't adding up.

 

[inspoke]

Originally posted by tcpoke:
The big insurance companies absolutely hate the ACA. They no longer have the ability to operate within thier own business model as the government is trying to force them into a non-profit model.

The increase in rates is because they can't say no to anyone anymore. The costs will continue to go up as long as the ACA is unchanged, eventually pricing almost everyone out of the individual market, eliminating small employers who can't affford to offer benefits as deemed required by the federal government and eventually shrinking the insurance market place which is never good for consumers.

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Its not just that they can't say no to anyone. It's also that the spread between the lowest rate and highest rate can only be like 3-4x. So all the young people are subsidizing all the older people.

 

[Headhunter]

Insurance actuaries have always factored in the number of young people vs. old and the amount of claims paid to each group and spread the risk out over the entire group.

The problem is if you double or triple young peoples premiums then that 3-4X becomes huge for people getting older like myself.

 

[imprimis]

The solution for this starts and stops with a Single Payer system run by the government. It's what both parties have wanted all along.

 

[Marshal Jim Duncan]

Originally posted by Headhunter:

Insurance actuaries have always factored in the number of young people vs. old and the amount of claims paid to each group and spread the risk out over the entire group.

The problem is if you double or triple young peoples premiums then that 3-4X becomes huge for people getting older like myself.

No, the problem lies in not enough young people signing up (of course that isn't the only problem). All young people weren't previously in the pool, that's why they are required to join up or pay the penalty.

Without all the young people, the unrestricited (and unsubsidixzed) multiple vs. younger insureds would be much more than 3-4X.

 

[inspoke]

The 3-4x cap on premiums is what will sink the entire program. The only way to offset massive premium increases is to get more young people involved to broaden the risk pool. But, this doesn't appear to be happening in large enough numbers to stem the rise in premiums caused by adding coverage and eliminating the ability of the insurance company to avoid adverse selection.