How to Protect Yourself From Obamacare

[guido911]

Well this ain't good:

WASHINGTON — The Obama administration is contacting hundreds of thousands of people with subsidized health insurance to resolve questions about their eligibility, as consumer advocates express concern that many will be required to repay some or all of the subsidies.

Of the eight million people who signed up for private health plans through insurance exchanges under the new health care law, two million reported personal information that differed from data in government records, according to federal officials and Serco, the company hired to resolve such inconsistencies.

The government is asking consumers for additional documents to verify their income, citizenship, immigration status and Social Security numbers, as well as any health coverage that they may have from employers. People who do not provide the information risk losing their subsidized coverage and may have to repay subsidies next April.

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/06/16/us/thousands-to-be-questioned-on-eligibility-for-health-insurance-subsidies.html?_r=1

[Conan71]

Well this ain't good:

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/06/16/us/thousands-to-be-questioned-on-eligibility-for-health-insurance-subsidies.html?_r=1

But they fixed health care!

[Gaspar]

Our company was notified that our high-end BCBS Blue Choice PPO was going up 60% for our next enrollment period (in two weeks).  We've had to scramble because none of the big companies have any interest in insuring small companies (under 50 employees) any more.  Finally found a plan under Assurant Health for our group.  It will cost us about 30% more, but that's the best we can get.  Boss was so frustrated he almost considered dropping employee insurance completely in leu of increasing our medical allowance program (we currently have a cash amount the the company pays each employee to cover out-of-pocket).  But, as he put it, that would be like "admitting defeat."

This whole thing is going to get really sucky before it collapses.

[guido911]

"Sucks to be you, dude."--the small percent of people that now get free healthcare.

[heironymouspasparagus]

Our company was notified that our high-end BCBS Blue Choice PPO was going up 60% for our next enrollment period (in two weeks).  We've had to scramble because none of the big companies have any interest in insuring small companies (under 50 employees) any more.  Finally found a plan under Assurant Health for our group.  It will cost us about 30% more, but that's the best we can get.  Boss was so frustrated he almost considered dropping employee insurance completely in leu of increasing our medical allowance program (we currently have a cash amount the the company pays each employee to cover out-of-pocket).  But, as he put it, that would be like "admitting defeat."

This whole thing is going to get really sucky before it collapses.

Definitely not a function of Affordable Care Act - no matter what FauxNews tells you.  This was almost identical scenario at a little place in about 2002 where I worked with about 40 employees.  BCBS jerked them around to the point where the guy (who was also jerking the company around - as evidenced by a JAG investigation of him personally) decided to go with a $5000 deductible policy with no company payment of premiums.  Mine was costing about $275 per pay period - 2 a month.  For just the two of us.

Law of Supply and Demand led to the exit of everyone who had good options.  Gee...that didn't hurt the company at all....

[RecycleMichael]

Health care costs rose at twice the rate of inflation during the Bush Presidency. They doubled.

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/09/27/business/27insure.html?_r=0

Go ahead and blame Obama.

[Hoss]

When I worked at my last employer, my insurance rates went up at about a rate of 50 percent every year I had insurance with them (from 2006 until I left in 2012).  We switched providers however a ton of times (at least 4).  This doesn't have as much to do with the ACA as it does the insurance companies trying to tell you it does.

My current employer has had to raise rates on my insurance both years the ACA was enforced.  Strange though; mine went up about $1.15 every pay period.  I am single, however.  But those I know with family plans said theirs went down instead of up.

Thanks Obama.

Oh, and if it's of any importance, the company owner hates Obama more than Guido and Gaspar combined.  AND he's an attorney as well.  He makes both of you look liberal in comparison.  I'm talking bleeding heart liberal.

[heironymouspasparagus]

When I worked at my last employer, my insurance rates went up at about a rate of 50 percent every year I had insurance with them (from 2006 until I left in 2012).  We switched providers however a ton of times (at least 4).  This doesn't have as much to do with the ACA as it does the insurance companies trying to tell you it does.

My current employer has had to raise rates on my insurance both years the ACA was enforced.  Strange though; mine went up about $1.15 every pay period.  I am single, however.  But those I know with family plans said theirs went down instead of up.

Thanks Obama.

Oh, and if it's of any importance, the company owner hates Obama more than Guido and Gaspar combined.  AND he's an attorney as well.  He makes both of you look liberal in comparison.  I'm talking bleeding heart liberal.

Condolences!  That you have to work for such a person....


This year my rate went up about $12 a pay period.  Four years ago or so - the two years before that ACA, the rate went up about $35 one year and $18 the next.  Blue Cross.... I'm betting "justified" by pending ACA.

[Red Arrow]

Health care costs rose at twice the rate of inflation during the Bush Presidency. They doubled.

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/09/27/business/27insure.html?_r=0

Go ahead and blame Obama.

Of course it's Obama's fault.  The insurance companies knew he would be elected and made the appropriate preparations.

[heironymouspasparagus]

Of course it's Obama's fault.  The insurance companies knew he would be elected and made the appropriate preparations.

That's the Faux line....

[guido911]

Of course it's Obama's fault.  The insurance companies knew he would be elected and made the appropriate preparations.

You are buying into the Murdochian plot again.

[heironymouspasparagus]

You are buying into the Murdochian plot again.

Yes, he is!  And I have had such great hopes for both of you - as well as others!!  There are these occasional, tiny little glimmers of light that seem to show progress....and then...   Well, I can only endeavor to persevere to bring light to the dark places!!




I don't share my thoughts because I think it will change the minds of people who think differently.
I share my thoughts to show the people who already think like me that they are not alone.

[Townsend]

How Does The Federal Health Law Affect Insurance Price Hikes?

http://kwgs.com/post/how-does-federal-health-law-affect-insurance-price-hikes

Buying health insurance, even on the exchanges created by the health law, can be an expensive proposition. And some consumers are already wondering how much coverage will cost next year. That led to a recent question about the rules that apply to insurance premiums.

I understood that under the health law, premiums for individuals could not increase by double digits, that rate increases were capped at under 10 percent unless approved by the government. Isn't that right?

The health law requires insurers in the individual and small group markets that propose premium increases of 10 percent or more to disclose publicly that information and explain why they think the increase is justified. You can find details of proposed increases on many state websites, and a consumer-friendly version of the information will soon be available on HealthCare.gov, according to an official at the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services.

States, which have primary responsibility for regulating insurance rates, provide varying degrees of oversight. Some don't permit insurers to raise rates without state insurance department approval, while others require insurers to inform states of proposed changes, and states may retroactively reject them.

Some states have no authority over premium rate hikes at all. Under the health law, the federal government reviews rate increases if states don't have an effective process in place.

However, unless states that have the authority to do so step in, "once an insurer files a justification [for an increase over 10 percent], nothing in the Affordable Care Act prohibits them from proceeding," says Timothy Jost, a law professor at Washington and Lee University who is an expert on the health law.

The health insurance marketplaces also have the authority to take insurers' proposed rates into consideration when deciding whether to accept a plan on the exchange, says Jost.

Other provisions of the health law act as a brake on unreasonable rate increases. For example, insurers are required to spend at least 80 percent of the premiums they collect on medical claims or quality of care improvements. If they don't meet that standard, called a medical loss ratio, insurers have to return the extra premium amounts to consumers.

I am concerned that few family doctors in my area are accepting new Medicare patients. Is there a requirement that doctors who work for hospitals accept them? For example, if hospital X buys physician practice Y and pays those physicians a salary, are they required to accept Medicare patients?

No, physicians aren't generally required to accept new Medicare patients, whether or not the doctors are employed by a hospital.

There are many reasons a doctor might refuse a new patient. Her practice may already be full, for example, or she may decide she lacks the necessary expertise to treat someone's condition.

But the vast majority of physicians do in fact accept new Medicare patients, according to a recent study by the Kaiser Family Foundation (Kaiser Health News is an editorially independent program of the foundation.)

In its analysis of the 2012 National Ambulatory Medical Care Survey-National Electronic Health Records Survey, the foundation found that 91 percent of physicians reported that they were accepting new Medicare patients, the same rate as those accepting privately insured patients. Among primary care physicians, the figure was slightly lower, 88 percent.

The study also found that the number of physicians who bill Medicare continues to grow at the same rate as the growth in beneficiaries, staying constant at 3.8 primary care physicians per 1,000 beneficiaries.

Copyright 2014 Kaiser Health News. To see more, visit http://www.kaiserhealthnews.org/.

[guido911]

I share my thoughts to show the people who already think like me that they are not alone.

I bet THAT makes people feel a crap ton better...

[guido911]

How Does The Federal Health Law Affect Insurance Price Hikes?

http://kwgs.com/post/how-does-federal-health-law-affect-insurance-price-hikes

I wonder if this is the survey your article was discussing?

http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/ahcd/body_NAMCSOPD.pdf