Obamacare On "Verge Of Collapse" As Premiums Set To Soar Again In 2017
If Obamacare enrollments continue their current trend and insurers continue to hike premiums at alarming rates then Republicans may not have to worry about "repealing and replacing Obamacare" as it might just work itself out "naturally". The 4th open enrollment period for Obamacare begins on November 1, 2016 and industry experts are warning that another year of tepid demand from "young and healthy" Americans could force more insurers out of the exchanges effectively marking the end of Obamacare as we know it. According to a story published by The Hill, 11 million people bought health insurance through the exchanges for 2016 which was drastically below the Congressional Budget Office's initial projection of 21 million.
Well we're shocked! Turns out that whole "adverse selection bias" was a real thing. So you're telling us that young, healthy people don't want to pay for insurance they know they'll never use? We guess America's youth can actually do basic math, after all. Apparently they were able to figure out they would rather take the lower tax associated with Obamacare penalties than the larger tax associated with buying a healthcare policy they'll never use. We guess Millennials are a little less enthusiastic about embracing socialism when the costs are coming out of their pockets.
With America's youth continuing to shun health insurance, insurers are all racking up massive losses on the exchanges. For many insurers the losses will simply result in massive premium hikes but others have decided to withdraw from the exchanges all together. In fact, UnitedHealthCare recently announced plans to exit most state exchanges by 2017 Per The Hill:
In the last month, two major insurers – Aetna and Anthem – both reversed course on their plans to expand in the marketplace. Now, all five of the nation’s largest insurers say they are losing money on the exchanges.
“From a policy point of view, we’re basically seeing the exchanges unravel,” said Michael Abrams, a healthcare strategist with Numerof & Associates who consults for insurers including UnitedHealthGroup.
2016 average premiums were up substantially in most states and, with no one making money, 2017 seems no better. According to The Hill:
Already, many insurers this year are proposing substantial rate hikes with the hopes of making up for higher recent medical costs. The average premium increase next year is about 9 percent, according to an analysis of 19 cities by Kaiser Family Foundation. But some hikes are far higher: Blue Cross Blue Shield has proposed increases of 40 percent in Alabama and 60 percent in Texas.
For her part, Hillary Clinton has vowed to stick with Obamacare insisting that taxpayers just need to spend more money on advertising to drive higher enrollments:
Clinton has already laid out plans to help boost enrollment by making coverage more affordable for people who are still priced out of ObamaCare.
Like Obama, she vowed to invest in advertising and in-person outreach to help more people enroll. Clinton would also increase ObamaCare subsidies so that customers spend no more than 8.5 percent of their income on premiums – down from 9.5 percent under current law.
She has also proposed a tax credit of up to $5,000 per family specifically to offset rising out-of-pocket costs – a side effect of cheaper plans offered under ObamaCare.
Right, more advertising should fix it because no one in the country is familiar with Obamacare. As Obama likes to say when things don't go as planned, it's not that Obamacare is bad it's just that we've failed to explain it properly. No, we think people get it and they just don't like it.
We also find it hard to understand how a Clinton administration could make healthcare cheaper than "free?" Perhaps we should start paying people to take taxpayer subsidized healthcare? If at first you don't succeed, throw more taxpayer money at it...
Hey Rogue how come no source?Rogue One wrote:
Wrong again!AZhitman wrote: ↑Thu Feb 06, 2014 12:05 amhttp://nypost.com/2014/02/05/congressio ... obamacare/
I don't see this thing surviving the 2016 election.
Thank God they taught cut/paste in that one-room schoolhouse. Otherwise, we'd never know what's already in the news.telcoman wrote:The ACA will not be going anywhere anytime soon and will most likely be improved upon during the Hillary presidency.
I don't see the republicans surviving in the 2018 electionAZhitman wrote: ↑Thu Feb 06, 2014 12:05 amhttp://nypost.com/2014/02/05/congressio ... obamacare/
I don't see this thing surviving the 2016 election.
AZhitman wrote: ↑Thu Feb 06, 2014 12:05 amhttp://nypost.com/2014/02/05/congressio ... obamacare/
I don't see this thing surviving the 2016 election.
Your criminal heroes are currently in the white house.
It now looks like ObamaCare will hurt twice as many people as it helps — because the law isn’t nearly done with canceling people’s insurance.
The 5 million-plus Americans who’ve seen their health plans canceled thanks to ObamaCare will be joined by millions more this year — because the Affordable Care Act makes their employer-provided policies illegal, as well.
You obviously do not have a clear understanding of the ACA or ObamaCare.Rogue One wrote: ↑Thu Jul 20, 2017 6:25 amHowie, I'm just curious as to why you're giving a pass to the Dem's that created ObamaCare or as it's more laughingly called, The AFFORDABLE Care Act, the single biggest tax increase in the history of ever? Have you forgotten that back in 2013, President Obama had to issue an apology to those who lost their health insurance due to Obamacare regulations? What about the countless hundreds of thousands of people that were forced into health exchanges with high premium rates and even higher deductibles that made the policies essentially useless?
Here's what the New York Post had to say about Obamacare back in 2014:It now looks like ObamaCare will hurt twice as many people as it helps — because the law isn’t nearly done with canceling people’s insurance.
The 5 million-plus Americans who’ve seen their health plans canceled thanks to ObamaCare will be joined by millions more this year — because the Affordable Care Act makes their employer-provided policies illegal, as well.
If the Democrats hadn't foisted this abomination on the American public, we wouldn't be in this predicament.
DEDUCTIBLES HAVE ALSO SKYROCKETED UNDER THE AFFORDABLE CARE ACT
by Kevin Ryan
Yesterday I posted about the soaring premiums in the Affordable Care Act's health insurance marketplaces, up 105% since just 2013.
As if that isn't bad enough, people are having to pay far more out of pocket before insurance even kicks in. The average individual's health insurance deductible has increased by $1,009 since 2013, to $4,328 in 2017, while the average family's health insurance deductible has risen from $4,230 to $8,352.
And, despite promising an average annual premium decrease of $2,500 per family, Obamacare has actually INCREASED average annual premiums by a whopping $7,140 per family! In just 4 years.
Meaning the average family in the individual market must now pay $12,252 per year for insurance that has an $8,352 deductible... or pay a government fine if they refuse.
Giving more evidence to opponents who say it is not govenment intervention that fixes healthcare, it's government intervention that breaks it.
SOURCES: https://resources.ehealthinsurance.com/ ... macare-cos…
https://aspe.hhs.gov/…/2…/IndividualMar ... hanges.pdf
https://youtu.be/_lT4VzH5xY8
https://youtu.be/66bgpRRSDD4
You're wrong. As usual.
The number of Americans that disagree with you are rising.AZhitman wrote: ↑Fri Jul 21, 2017 12:34 am"Everyone living in the United States should have government mandated healthcare"
Socialist idiocy. If you can't comprehend why this is patently wrong, and a simple violation of freedom (in fact, it's slavery or at the very least, indentured servitude), then there's no hope for a rational discussion.
So you are going to decline applying for government Social Security and not apply for Medicare when you become eligible?AZhitman wrote: ↑Fri Jul 21, 2017 12:34 am"Everyone living in the United States should have government mandated healthcare"
Socialist idiocy. If you can't comprehend why this is patently wrong, and a simple violation of freedom (in fact, it's slavery or at the very least, indentured servitude), then there's no hope for a rational discussion.
I'm not sure how you function in a free world, thinking the govt is some benevolent dictator.
Noel, don't try to confuse Howie with facts. He's got a life-sized replica of Hillary's shriveled nutsack on a hemp cord around his neck.
Most likely, considering I paid into it - from my EARNINGS.
If you drive an automobile you are required to pay for automobile insurance.
That's an extremely false equivalence and you know it. There is no federal government law requiring individual drivers to carry automobile insurance, only the states do. Are you aware that New Hampshire and Virginia do not require motor vehicle insurance? For that matter, driving an automobile is not mandatory, while ObamaCare is inescapable. As a more accurate comparison, we’d have to implement a special tax penalty against people who refuse to purchase and drive a car. And if we did such a thing, what do you suppose would happen to the cost of auto insurance?If you drive an automobile you are required to pay for automobile insurance.
If you apply for a mortgage on your home you are required to have homeowners insurance.
If you go to an emergency hospital room without health insurance neither I nor anyone else should have to subsidize your medical costs.