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Getbig Main Boards => Politics and Political Issues Board => Topic started by: Soul Crusher on June 15, 2016, 09:43:10 AM
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eport: New evidence of rising 'Obamacare' premiums
By RICARDO ALONSO-ZALDIVAR
Jun. 15, 2016 3:29 AM EDT
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Health Overhaul Texas
FILE - In this Oct. 6, 2015, file photo, the HealthCare.gov website, where people can buy health... Read more
WASHINGTON (AP) — Premiums for popular low-cost medical plans under the federal health care law are expected to go up an average of 11 percent next year, said a study that reinforced reports of sharp increases around the country in election season.
For consumers, the impact will depend on whether they get government subsidies for their premiums, as well as on their own willingness to switch plans to keep the increases more manageable, said the analysis released Wednesday by the nonpartisan Kaiser Family Foundation.
The full picture on 2017 premiums will emerge later this summer as the presidential election heads into the home stretch. The health law's next sign-up season starts a week before Election Day. Democrat Hillary Clinton wants to build on President Barack Obama's health overhaul, which has reduced the uninsured rate to a historically low 9 percent. Republican Donald Trump wants to repeal it.
The Kaiser study looked at 14 metro areas for which complete data on insurer premium requests is already available. It found that premiums for a level of insurance called the "lowest-cost silver plan" will go up in 12 of the areas, while decreasing in two. The changes range from a decrease of 14 percent in Providence, Rhode Island, to an increase of 26 percent in Portland, Oregon.
Half of the cities will see increases of 10 percent or more. Last year, only two of the cities had double-digit increases.
"Premiums are going up faster in 2017 than they have in past years," said Cynthia Cox, lead author of the analysis.
Among the cities studied, the monthly premium for a 40-year-old nonsmoker in 2017 will range from $192 in Albuquerque, New Mexico, to $482 in Burlington, Vermont.
Final rates may change if regulators push back on the requests from insurers. The foundation plans to analyze major cities in all states as more data becomes available.
Most workers and their families are covered by employers, but about 12 million people get private coverage through HealthCare.gov and online insurance markets run by states. Nearly 7 in 10 pick silver plans, a mid-tier option that allows consumers with low to modest incomes to also get financial help with out-of-pocket costs when they receive medical care.
Income-based premium subsidies designed to keep pace with costs will cushion the impact for many. But not all consumers get help. About 2 million marketplace customers make too much to qualify for the subsidies. And an estimated 3 million to 5 million people who buy their policies outside of markets like HealthCare.gov do not receive financial assistance.
For both the subsidized and the unsubsidized, willingness to switch plans and insurers may be crucial in keeping premiums more manageable next year.
The lowest-cost silver plan in a community often changes from year to year, and Cox said the estimated 11 percent increase is based on an assumption that consumers will switch.
"If they stay in their same plan they may see a higher premium increase," she said.
The premium increases come after major insurers reported significant losses on their health-care business. Enrollment was lower than hoped for, new customers were sicker than expected, and the government's system to help stabilize the markets had problems.
Medicare and Medicaid administrator Andy Slavitt, whose agency also oversees the health law, said in a speech last week that the health insurance markets are still in an early trial-and-error stage. He estimated that could go on for another couple of years, or well into the next president's term.
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Online:
Kaiser Family Foundation study - http://tinyurl.com/hmpwjyf
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It was a scam from the beginning and the left fell for it.
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Obama admin: Dropoff in Obamacare enrollment since January
11.1 million people were enrolled at the end of March
This is down from 12.7 million who signed up by the January deadline
Some people lost coverage because they didn’t pay premiums
Enrollment in Obamacare is down from January’s enrollment numbers.
Enrollment in Obamacare is down from January’s enrollment numbers. Susan Walsh AP
BY TERESA WELSH
twelsh@mcclatchy.com
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The number of people enrolled in coverage through President Barack Obama’s health care law this year decreased to 11.1 million by the end of March, down from 12.7 million by the January deadline.
The Obama administration released new enrollment numbers Thursday that showed the number of people who signed up by January 31 exceeded those who were covered in the spring. A dropoff in enrollment has happened before, and is partially caused by people who sign up for coverage by the deadline but then lose it because they do not pay their premiums.
People have also lost coverage because of issues due to citizenship or immigration paperwork.
According to the Obama administration, around 20 million previously uninsured people have gained coverage through Obamacare. More people have obtained coverage in marketplaces as well as through Medicaid expansion. Around 10 million people are expected to remain enrolled in Obamacare plans by the end of 2016.
Read more here: http://www.mcclatchydc.com/news/politics-government/national-politics/article87002882.html#storylink=cpy
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Illinois Obamacare Co-op Becomes 16th to Collapse
Posted by Toni-Anne Barry on Wednesday, July 13th, 2016, 1:23 PM PERMALINK
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Sixteen Obamacare co-ops have now failed. Illinois announced that Land of Lincoln Health, a taxpayer funded Obamacare co-op, would close its doors, leaving 49,000 without insurance. The co-op now joins a list of 15 other Obamacare co-ops that have collapsed since Obamacare has been implemented. Failed co-ops have now cost taxpayers more than $1.7 billion in funds that may never be recovered.
Co-ops were hyped as not-for-profit alternatives to traditional insurance companies created under Obamacare. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) financed co-ops with startup and solvency loans, totaling more than $2.4 billion in taxpayer dollars. They have failed to become sustainable with many collapsing amid the failure of Obamacare exchanges.
Since September, 13 Obamacare co-ops have collapsed, with only seven of the original 23 co-ops remaining. Illinois’ Land of Lincoln co-op faced losses of $90 million last year and is suing the federal government for the deficit caused by Obamacare. Co-ops across the country have struggled to operate in Obamacare exchanges, losing millions despite receiving enormous government subsidies.
The mass failure of co-ops should not be surprising. Larger insurance companies have also struggled to operate in Obamacare exchanges with many announcing they will stop providing coverage.
The web of government subsidies have also failed to provide insurances the funds they were promised. One of these programs – risk corridors -- recouped just 12.6 percent of the funds that insurers requested. The program, which was created to encourage insurers to take on higher risk individuals by transferring funds from insurers who made money to those that posted losses, was required to be budget neutral under law leaving Obamacare insurers with a significant shortfall.
Obamacare co-ops have also been plagued by inept management and unrealistic business models.
As a report by the Daily Caller’s Richard Pollock found, 17 of the 21 co-ops paid out gratuitous salaries to executives reaching as high as $587,000, which is more than four times as much as the $135,000 median health insurance executive salary. Worse still, many of these executives had little to no experience in the insurance industry and some of these excessive salaries were disguised in financial documents as “management fees.” Last year, 21 of 23 co-ops posted losses.
Given the trend of failing Obamacare co-ops, the collapse of the Illinois co-op will not be the last.
A list of all failed co-ops and their cost to taxpayers compiled by the House Energy and Commerce Committee is found below:
CoOportunity Health - Iowa and Nebraska
Cost: $145,312,100
Louisiana Health Cooperative, Inc.
Cost: $65,790,660
Nevada Health Cooperative
Cost: $65,925,396
Health Republic Insurance of New York
Cost: $265,133,000
Kentucky Health Care Cooperative - Kentucky and West Virginia
Cost: $146,494,772
Community Health Alliance Mutual Insurance Company - Tennessee
Cost: $73,306,700
Colorado HealthOp
Cost: $72,335,129
Health Republic Insurance of Oregon
Cost: $60,648,505
Consumers' Choice Health Insurance Company - South Carolina
Cost: $87,578,208
Arches Mutual Insurance Company – Utah
Cost: $89,650,303
Meritus Health Partners – Arizona
Cost: $93,313,233
Consumers Mutual Insurance – Michigan
Cost: $71,534,300
InHealth Mutual – Ohio
Cost: $129,225,604
HealthyCT – Connecticut
Cost: $127,980,768
Oregon Health’s CO-OP – Oregon
Cost: $56,656,900
Land of Lincoln Health – Illinois
Cost: $160,154,812
TOTAL TAXPAYER DOLLARS: $1,711,040,390
Note: This total does not include Vermont’s CO-OP, which was denied an insurance license by the state, and was dissolved before enrolling a single person.
Photo Credit:
Fraser Elliot
Read more: http://www.atr.org/illinois-obamacare-co-op-becomes-16th-collapse#ixzz4EJsV8hDI
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