Reuters: "Big U.S. Insurers Wary Of Entering New Obamacare Markets"
In the past weeks, almost every day has brought a new story about the consequences of Obamacare and Democrats fretting about the problems it’s facing as the Obama administration struggles to implement it. Of course, today is no exception.
Reuters writes today, “The nation's largest health insurers are far from leaping at the chance to join new state health insurance exchanges under President Barack Obama's reform law, making it likely that some markets will have little or no competition next year. . . . A key principle of Obama's health reform is that individuals will have a robust offering of insurance plans to choose from, and that competition for new customers in each state will help keep prices down for consumers. But health insurers, some of whom fought the law before it was passed and continue to lobby to reverse parts of it, are wary. In recent days, executives at the four largest U.S. health insurers say they are likely to sell insurance plans on less than a third of the exchanges, reluctant to venture out beyond the states where they already offer coverage. . . . There are a number of reasons for caution, company executives say. These include a lack of clarity about the kind of prices they can charge and the number of plans they can sell on each exchange, the expectation that the program is only expected to reach about 7 million people nationwide in its first year and uncertainty over whether all of the exchanges will be ready in time.”
According to Reuters, “UnitedHealth , the largest U.S. insurer, said it would end up in as few as 10 exchanges and only up to 25 maximum. Aetna on Tuesday said that it was not planning a ‘land grab’ when it comes to expanding through the exchanges and has submitted applications to offer plans in 14 states. WellPoint , which operates Blue Cross Blue Shield licenses in 14 states, said it plans to enter exchanges in those states, but that there is uncertainty around timing of the overall rollout of exchanges. Humana Inc. said it is participating in 14 states. Cigna said it will participate in a ‘limited’ number of markets that it has already zeroed in on for growth. . . . Caroline Pearson, vice president for health reform at consulting firm Avalere Health, said the barriers for insurers are high to break into a new insurance market. ‘To come in as a new carrier, do marketing to build your brand name, and build a provider network from scratch is very, very hard,’ she said.”
Meanwhile, yet another Senate Democrat leader who led the charge to jam Obamacare through Congress is now admitting some of the problems the bill has. Following Sen. Max Baucus (D-MT), who helped write the bill, fretting about implementation, “I just see a huge train wreck coming down,” Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) said yesterday, “Max said unless we implement this properly it’s going to be a train wreck, and I agree with him,” and then demanded more taxpayer money for Obamacare. Asked by a reporter if insurance rates are going up “because of Obamacare,” Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY), the 3rd -ranking Senate Democrat, said, “It's in part because of Obamacare, but health care costs have been going up by double digits for years and years and years.” Of course, Schumer omits that the president and Democrats pledged that Obamacare would reduce health care costs and premiums. Instead they are, predictably, increasing.
Tags: Obamacare, Chuck Schumer, Senate Majority Leader, Harry Reid, Max Baucus, Big Insurers, Obamacare Markets, news reports To share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. Thanks!
Reuters writes today, “The nation's largest health insurers are far from leaping at the chance to join new state health insurance exchanges under President Barack Obama's reform law, making it likely that some markets will have little or no competition next year. . . . A key principle of Obama's health reform is that individuals will have a robust offering of insurance plans to choose from, and that competition for new customers in each state will help keep prices down for consumers. But health insurers, some of whom fought the law before it was passed and continue to lobby to reverse parts of it, are wary. In recent days, executives at the four largest U.S. health insurers say they are likely to sell insurance plans on less than a third of the exchanges, reluctant to venture out beyond the states where they already offer coverage. . . . There are a number of reasons for caution, company executives say. These include a lack of clarity about the kind of prices they can charge and the number of plans they can sell on each exchange, the expectation that the program is only expected to reach about 7 million people nationwide in its first year and uncertainty over whether all of the exchanges will be ready in time.”
According to Reuters, “UnitedHealth , the largest U.S. insurer, said it would end up in as few as 10 exchanges and only up to 25 maximum. Aetna on Tuesday said that it was not planning a ‘land grab’ when it comes to expanding through the exchanges and has submitted applications to offer plans in 14 states. WellPoint , which operates Blue Cross Blue Shield licenses in 14 states, said it plans to enter exchanges in those states, but that there is uncertainty around timing of the overall rollout of exchanges. Humana Inc. said it is participating in 14 states. Cigna said it will participate in a ‘limited’ number of markets that it has already zeroed in on for growth. . . . Caroline Pearson, vice president for health reform at consulting firm Avalere Health, said the barriers for insurers are high to break into a new insurance market. ‘To come in as a new carrier, do marketing to build your brand name, and build a provider network from scratch is very, very hard,’ she said.”
Meanwhile, yet another Senate Democrat leader who led the charge to jam Obamacare through Congress is now admitting some of the problems the bill has. Following Sen. Max Baucus (D-MT), who helped write the bill, fretting about implementation, “I just see a huge train wreck coming down,” Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) said yesterday, “Max said unless we implement this properly it’s going to be a train wreck, and I agree with him,” and then demanded more taxpayer money for Obamacare. Asked by a reporter if insurance rates are going up “because of Obamacare,” Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY), the 3rd -ranking Senate Democrat, said, “It's in part because of Obamacare, but health care costs have been going up by double digits for years and years and years.” Of course, Schumer omits that the president and Democrats pledged that Obamacare would reduce health care costs and premiums. Instead they are, predictably, increasing.
Tags: Obamacare, Chuck Schumer, Senate Majority Leader, Harry Reid, Max Baucus, Big Insurers, Obamacare Markets, news reports To share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. Thanks!
Posted by Bill Smith at 2:29 PM - Post Link
1 Comments:
Best description ever: "TRAINWRECK"
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