Insurance companies seeking BIG rate increases for 2016: Says thanks for saying no to single payer.
Note: The ACA was a GOOD starting place (KUDOS to President Obama for helping lots of American receive medical care) BUT we have to switch to a more cost effective system. We need a system that provides health care not health insurance because it will cost much less. And anyone who thinks this won't pit the poor against the middle class (and won't be used to divide us) must believe in unicorns and rainbows.
How will it pit the poor against the middle class? The rate increases will apply to ALL subscribers; however, some people will get their premiums supplemented by the government because they can't afford it. Many people are struggling to pay their insurance premiums (they have been going up every year). When rates are increased people will become very frustrated and the Republicans will try to direct that frustration to the people that are having their premiums paid in part by the govt. More will probably qualify for subsidies but not all. And the increasing cost of the subsidies will be another issue.
The insurance companies and their greed will not be blamed. Pitting the poor against the middle class for political advantage has been used for years. Again, I applaud Obama for what he did, however, we need a more cost effective system.
WASHINGTON — 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.”
President Obama, on a trip to Tennessee this week, said that consumers should put pressure on state insurance regulators to scrutinize the proposed rate increases. If commissioners do their job and actively review rates, he said, “my expectation is that they’ll come in significantly lower than what’s being requested.”
The Oregon insurance commissioner, Laura N. Cali, has just approved 2016 rate increases for companies that cover more than 220,000 people. Moda Health Plan, which has the largest enrollment in the state, received a 25 percent increase, and the second-largest plan, LifeWise, received a 33 percent increase.
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/07/04/us/health-insurance-companies-seek-big-rate-increases-for-2016.html?_r=0