God damn it. How the hell do you get blindsided by your own f%$#@*g legislation???

[lynne]

116. No one was blindsided. Not the President. Not Congress. Not the media.

- and not the insurance companies. And Mega-Shame on the public if we were blindsided. We should be smarter than that.

If you lease a Ford 2 dr. sdn. and decide you want to switch to a Dodge 4x4 truck, do you think your same lease contract and monthly fee will apply? What if you want to switch to a three bedroom apartment after renting a one bedroom, do you seriously think your lease agreement and monthly rent won't be changed?

There are changes to these policies that the companies had to incorporate into new contracts effective January 1, 2014. New standards, new coverages that must be provided. That's going to require a new contract. They had to re-write all policy provisions in preparation for the change effective Jan. 2014. Some companies chose to cancel and re-write policies as the original contract was changed so much. Frankly, that's probably a more efficient way to handle it then to issue you pages and pages of endorsements amending the original contract combined with an additional premium fee.

Of course premiums are going to increase unless you qualify for a subsidy. When was the last time you got something for nothing? You may get a lot of what you don't need but that's now the law. My 81 year old widowed mother will soon have maternity and pediatric health, vision, and dental benefits. But no actual vision or dental benefits for herself. She'll pay for something she cannot use yet doesn't have the coverage she actually needs. And she'll pay more than she did before.

No, mom doesn't have what the media has coined as a "junk" policy. She's retired from the federal government so her policy is a good one but all must be changed and all must comply. And all premiums on all policies will be adjusted accordingly.

The best you can do now is hope you qualify for a subsidy. Those that don't will have to find other ways to adjust their premiums and that's only going to be to increase the deductibles. You'll pay out more at both ends - premium and deductible - before breaking even.

It's a quagmire, for sure. And, it's a crying shame.